Oh, What NOW?
by SleepingDarkness
Summary: Danny Hollow and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen take a trip to Danny's home to visit her friends. But could it really be as simple as that? Of course not. Danny and the League bring in their wake danger, adventure, and maybe an explosion or two.
1. Chapter 1: A Little Slice Of Heaven

_Authors Note: _I know I said I wasn't going to write a sequel, but I changed my mind. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, this is a sequel to 'Read This Diary And Die A Painful Death'. Please go and read that if you haven't already. Enjoy.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 1: A Little Slice Of Heaven

January 1st 1899 1900

The new century has finally come!

I've been waiting for this day for about a month now- but despite this, I _still _managed to write 1899 instead of 1900- and as odd as it sounds I can almost _feel _the newness of the century in the air. It's put me in a very good mood, and I feel invincible. It's a time for new beginnings.  
What sort of new beginnings, I'm not sure. I suppose I have more than one reason to be happy though.  
After the debacle with Moriarty, more commonly known as M or the Fantom, this summer, I permanently joined the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (which flies rather ironically in the face of my premonition- that we would split and go in our directions once we had made the world right again) and have been thoroughly enjoying myself.  
Apart from the severe rib breakage… and burying Quatermain in Kenya… and missing my friends… Well, I suppose that like all things in life, it has its flaws, but I can overlook them.

Oh, I feel just so damn cheerful!  
Can you tell? I can tell.

As I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself, after we buried Quatermain in October, we decided to tour Kenya and take in the gorgeous landscapes and scenery (as well as the stifling heat. I fainted no less than three times, and am thoroughly embarrassed about it, but the others seem to find it quite amusing).

For Christmas, we decided to go back to London. This was for Jekyll's sake more than anything else. He hasn't been to London in a very long time, so we all thought it would be a nice treat for him to go home for the holidays.

Christmas was the kind of celebration I'd dreamed of having when I was young.  
On Christmas Eve, we all exchanged presents we'd bought for one another during our stay in London. I am now the proud owner of a new diary- from Nemo- a crystal pendant- from Jekyll- a stunning crimson dress- from Mina- and my own Winchester rifle- from Sawyer, obviously.  
But my favourite was the bottles of vodka, courtesy of Skinner. Despite my fondness for all spirits, vodka holds a special place in my heart.

The next day we confined ourselves to the library- I didn't even know this giant canoe had a library, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised- to continue celebrating, mostly by singing and dancing.  
I drank about three quarters of a bottle of said vodka, so the evening is a little fuzzy but if Mina's account of events is true, I stood on a table and sang a very touching performance of Silent Night, but I rather ruined the effect since I promptly fell off when I attempted a curtsy at the end. I also insisted on giving everyone in the room a kiss under the mistletoe. Twice.  
I blushed when Mina told me this, but she said she thought it was very sweet of me. She's far too nice sometimes.  
Things could have been a lot worse, though. I remember waking up after one particularly eventful night of drinking, with someone I didn't know passed out under my bed, wearing someone else's shoes, a cucumber shoved down the front of my dress, and 6 dead fish hanging from my curtain rails.

A couple of days later, Nemo took me aside and asked me if I would like to go to Venice to visit my friends. I would be lying through my teeth if I said I hadn't been at least a little sad at having to spend Christmas without them, so I instantly said yes.  
So in about a day or so we will be arriving in Venice for some post-Christmas partying.

All in all, 1899 has shaped up to be one of the best years of my life. The first half was a little shaky, but the rest has been amazing.  
Though 1900 will probably be up in my top ten, because even if every single horrible thing I can think of happens to me, something magical is going to happen to me next week.

Whoever is reading this (I am deliriously happy, so you are safe from my wrath. For now.) has probably read my rants and raves about the injustice I suffered at the hands of the government of the magical community- the Collective, its called. You'll know the story. Worked for them killing and hunting dangerous magical animals and people, got sent undercover, messed up mission and got fired.

Well, there's more to it than that, and you now have to suffer another lengthy rant about these never-before-revealed facts.

My colleagues hated me. My superiors hated me. Even my _inferiors_ hated me. They all thought I was too wild and reckless, that I was the sort of person who should be the hunted, not the hunter.  
But, they tolerated me because I always got the job done.  
We worked in uneasy peace until my failed mission, or what I like to call 'The Gargantuan Fuck-Up' took place, and next thing I know there are rumours about me flying around.  
The story on everyone's lips is that I was in league with the wizards we were trying to capture, and I revealed my identity accidentally on purpose to give them a chance to escape before we could throw them in jail.  
Everyone believed this story. Or rather, everyone _pretended _to believe this story. It was the perfect excuse to throw me in jail, or at the very least get me out of their establishment. If enough people claimed that this was true, the higher powers would believe them over me and I'd go down in flames.  
I was put before the court and unsurprisingly, found guilty. Without any damn evidence.  
After a great deal of thought by the judge, he decided I would not be put in jail, but would have to wear a tracking device and be put on probation until such a time that they decided I had learnt my lesson.  
You wouldn't know it's a tracking device from looking at it, unless of course you're a witch or wizard. It comes in the form of a gold bracelet, which holds a thin lozenge of emerald. On the stone, my initials and identification number (637421) have been engraved.  
Pretty as it is, it's still a ball and chain.  
And they weren't lenient with the rules of my probation either.  
I'm not allowed in any town or city that doesn't contain a branch of Collective headquarters (i.e. I'm pretty much not allowed to go anywhere that isn't a capital city); every time I use magic is logged in their archives, via my bloody bracelet; Collective agents from the Venetian branch pop up at me and my friends house without warning to monitor what I'm doing; I'm not allowed near certain shady customers (they're probably scared we'll all band together and overthrow them); anytime I run into one of their agents, they're entitled to arrest me if they believe I'm up to something; and I'm not allowed to take my tracking device off.

About a week into December, I suddenly remembered something I'd forgotten. At my trial, they had said that my probation would end on January 10th 1900, at precisely midnight.  
Suffice to say I was ecstatic.  
I grinned like an idiot for the rest of the day, and kept laughing out loud for no reason. Jekyll was a bit worried and kept asking me if I felt alright, and if I had bumped my head at all today.

This bracelet has been a constant reminder of my failure, my disgrace and my humiliation and now I can finally take the damn thing off! I'm going to throw it into the sea as soon as I get the chance. I can do what I want, when I want, and go where I want without fear of being repelled by some invisible magic force field because I've gone against my 'probation'- you wouldn't believe how many times that's happened over the years.

On a lighter note, I wonder what we'll do after we leave Venice. Nemo has big plans for us (though he won't give us any details- he just smiles conspiratorially and tells us to wait and see) and is encouraging us to think of places to visit.  
I've always wanted to see India and the Great Wall of China, and I'd absolutely love to go to the Caribbean. Lying on sun drenched beaches by glittering blue lagoons, drinking to my hearts content… it'll be a little slice of heaven.

I think I'll go up on deck for a while. I have energy in spades and if I don't find get some fresh air and exercise, I'll start bouncing off of the walls.


	2. Chapter 2: Unseemly Manner

_Authors Note_: Lucretia makes her return, and this time brings Monique the werewolf with her. By the way, I used (and will use in the future) Google translate for the parts where Monique speaks French, so if there are errors, I apologize.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 2: Unseemly Manner

January 2nd 1900

Managed to write 1900 this time!  
Nemo tells me we'll be arriving this afternoon, and my stomach keeps swirling with anxious anticipation. I only now realize that while Lucretia and Catherine know that I left to join the League, Monique and Jasmine didn't. Even if Lu has thought to tell them (Catherine definitely won't have), they'll still be mightily pissed off that I just upped and left without even saying goodbye.  
And I'm not sure what Lucretia will think either… we last saw each other when we were dispatching M's men to help the League, and I told her I'd be back within a couple of weeks, and I've been gone for about six months…  
Maybe the spirit of Christmas and the excitement over the turn of the century will have been sufficient to push all anger from Monique and Jasmine's minds. Jas in particular is very forgiving so I'm just crossing my fingers and praying that after a very emotional welcome, which will probably include Monique crying, they'll just be happy to see me again, and forget that I just ran off in the middle of the night half a year ago.  
And back in reality…  
I'll just have to face the consequences of my actions. It was a little insensitive of me, especially since I didn't send any letters, but I think that since our time together will be limited, we will put aside our argument and just enjoy each others company before the League moves on again.  
Hey, here's a little food for thought- how will the League react to my friends and, more importantly, how will my friends react to the League? Probably shouldn't dwell on that delightful little horror show too long- It'll be bad enough when it actually happens without imagining it first.  
I'm being called to the board room. I'll write an update of the situation later.

* * *

On my way to the meeting, I ran into Skinner. Literally.  
And no, it wasn't because he was the invisible man and I couldn't see him. He was clothed, as he often was; I just had my head in the clouds and walked straight into him. Thankfully he grabbed my arm to steady me, so I didn't have the added embarrassment of falling over. He laughed when I flushed and mumbled an apology.

"Takes quite a bit of skill to walk into an invisible man you can see."

"Sorry." I muttered again. He just smiled and offered me his arm, in an uncharacteristically civil gesture. It would have been passing up what was probably a once in a lifetime experience, so I took it, and we continued on our way to the board room.

"Is Venice really as nice as everyone says it is?" he asked casually.

"Personally, I think it's gorgeous. I suppose you didn't get to see it when we were last here, since you had snuck off to follow Gray and M."

"Even if I _had _been with you and the others, I think the explosions and the collapsed buildings would have spoiled the atmos."

I grinned.

"Depends on what 'atmos' you're going for. But, it should all be pretty much back to normal now. It's just as well Sawyer destroyed Nemo's automobile last time, since we wouldn't have been able to use it, thanks to the lack of roads."

"Destructive little bugger, isn't he?" he said teasingly.

"Speaking of Sawyer," Skinner continued "A while back he mentioned that you and the League had a run-in with one of the vamps you know."

"Lucretia, yeah."

"Anything I should know, about how to, well… act around her?"

"Oh don't worry, she won't bite." He arched an eyebrow at me.

"Really, she won't."

"According to Sawyer, she gave Gray a good telling off."

"Yes, but he was evil, and evil, with just a touch more evil on the side. Besides, I didn't think a vampire would scare you. You're in the company of one everyday, after all."

"I am not _scared_." he replied, somewhat hotly. I shrugged.

"I'm Lu's closest friend, and _I'm _a little bit scared of her. But I suppose someone who sneaks behind enemy lines and throws themselves from the frying pan and into the fire, literally, might define the word 'scary' a little differently."

We reached the board room and I smiled at him one final time before unhooking my arm from his, walking into the room and taking my seat at the table, Skinner following closely behind and taking his own seat.  
As always, I was the last to arrive at the meeting (though I'd made Skinner late this time as well). But now that we were all here, Nemo, who was seated at the head of the table where Allan Quatermain used to sit, stood and surveyed us all with those kind but firm eyes of his.

"We will shortly be docking in Venice," he told us "and I hope our past experiences with this place won't cloud our judgement of it." He angled himself so he was facing me. "We are here primarily for Ms Hol-" I cleared my throat. I had asked him, along with the rest of the crew and the rest of the League to refer to me as Danny, not Ms Hollow. "For Danny's benefit, but we shouldn't squander our chance to see this fine city. After some discussion, Danny and I have agreed that all of us, herself included will use the Nautilus as accommodation during our stay, and she will help us to navigate our way around the city."

"You gonna be our tour guide?" Sawyer asked with one of his white-toothed grins.

"Hate to disappoint, but I know almost nothing about Venice and its culture and history. You have the joy of finding it all out on your own."  
Sawyer pretended to pout and mumbled

"History was always my worst subject…"

I chuckled. I was pretty much indifferent to Sawyer when he first joined the League, but I have since warmed to him.  
When the meeting was over, I would have liked to go up on deck and watch as we approached Venice, but if the Nautilus' last voyage through the canals was anything to go by, I would have probably had a very painful collision with one of the bridges that scraped along the top of the submarine.  
I waited, somewhat impatiently in my room, and when one of Nemo's men came to tell me of our arrival, I almost shoved him out of the way in my haste to leave. I practically skipped through the ship to the gangplanks, where, as per usual, everyone else was already waiting.  
The side of the ship fell open and the wide metal walkways were lowered to allow us to get off of the ship. We all strode down them and had barely taken two steps on Venetian soil (it isn't technically soil, but you know what I mean) when I spotted two figures walking towards us. Well, one figure was walking while the other was sprinting towards us, barging past anyone who got in her way, which resulted in lots of Italians cursing loudly.  
Monique came skidding to a halt before our little procession, slightly out of breath and staring at me with wide disbelieving green eyes.

"Danny- you- I- um- you-" she stuttered, struggling to find words. She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, but failed miserably. Her face contorted in anger as she shrieked:

"_Mon Dieu, où êtes-vous?_"

"English please, Monique." I said thickly.

"Danny!" she shrieked again. People were beginning to stop and stare at the angry French woman and the odd-looking strangers she was yelling at.

"Now is not a time for facetiousness, Danny." Lucretia had just caught up with Monique, and now also had her gaze fixed on me.

"Um," Jekyll said shyly, tapping me on the shoulder "Who is this?"

"Monique, one of my friends," I turned to face him and smiled "Don't worry, when the shock and anger has gone away, she'll apologize a million times for appearing in such an 'unseemly manner'." I wasn't joking. When we met she had been in her wolf form, and the first thing she had done when she had changed back was say sorry for her 'unseemly manner'.

"Danny, I-" Monique seemed to have calmed down quite a bit now, but was still struggling to find words to say "I- I- I-"

"She missed you." Lucretia said for her, and Monique nodded.

"How did you know we would be here?" I asked.

"We didn't- we happened upon the submarine whilst out buying Jasmine fresh candles."

"Oh. Well, that's a nice coincidence. Lucretia, Monique, this is-"

"Danny." Lucretia cut across me, her voice solemn. This couldn't be headed anywhere good… "I'm afraid we have some bad news."


	3. Chapter 3: Bit Of A Breakdown

_Authors Note: _V. v. v. angsty chapter. The actual plot does make a vague appearance in this one, but not really…

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 3: Bit Of A Breakdown

January 3rd 1900

That bad news that Lucretia was talking about yesterday?  
Oh, it was _bad_. Very, very bad indeed.  
I only just woke up, so I'll back track and tell you the whole story of this bad news and what exactly makes it so dreadful.

* * *

Lucretia insisted that we all go back on the ship for her to deliver this news to me. This meant trouble, because it meant she didn't Jasmine to be around when I was told. Despite being exposed to all manner of monsters throughout her life, she is an extremely sensitive young girl, and always gets upset when any of us are sad, angry or any negative emotion.

If Lu didn't want Jas to be here, it's because she knew I was going to react badly.

Monique briefly thanked Nemo for allowing them onto his ship, and as I had predicted apologized for behaving so uncouthly before.  
But then they led me to my room, and I spied them trying to subtly flip a coin without my noticing. The coin landed on heads and Monique lost, and next thing I know, she's locked us in my room while Lucretia went to the board room to wait with the League until she was done telling me this news, whatever the hell it was.

"Danny," Monique cooed, sitting me down on my bed. She didn't sit down, but stood a couple of feet away, nervously shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "I understand how upset you'll be, but I just want you to try and stay calm, and look on the bright side, _oui_?"

"What? What in gods name is it?" I demanded. I was getting really freaked out now. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.

"A couple of months ago, in the beginning of November, we received a letter."

"A letter?" I repeated.

"Yes. It said that you- well, why don't you read it yourself?"

She extended her hand, and I took the sheet of paper from her. With real, raw dread threading its way through my veins as fast as wildfire, I opened the letter and started reading.  
The next part of this whole little scene is a complete blank spot for me.  
I remember reading the letter. It said that on August 11th 1899, I had removed my tracking device, and as such had violated my probation. As punishment for this, my probation would not end on January 10th, but instead would end on April 15th… 2000.  
And then I remember standing in the middle of my room, staring at the fragments of a lamp Lucretia had just thrown to the floor.

"What the hell did you do that for?" I snapped.

"I'm simply following suit, Danny." She said coolly.

I frowned, and when I looked away from her, at the rest of the room, I knew what she meant. I had torn the room apart (luckily my diary had been locked in my drawers and was unscathed). The porthole was smashed, my sheets and pillows had been reduced to a pile of rags and feathers, I'd thrown my chair at a wall and I'd clearly made an attempt to assault my wardrobe and desk, because they both had deep scratches in them. I looked at my hands, and my fingernails were shredded and bleeding.

"Oh," I breathed "oh god."

"You had a bit of a breakdown," Lucretia said soothingly "It's understandable. I'm certain if I had suffered this same intolerable wrong, I would have done something much similar to this." She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and I resisted the urge to collapse into her arms and cry.

"Danny," a voice said- it took me a moment to realize it was Dr. Jekyll "I think I should take you to the infirmary." He had taken me by the hands and was examining my nails. I looked up again, and I felt a sickening jolt when I saw the other members of the League standing in the doorway, looking at me with sympathy and… something else.  
Had they seen the whole thing?  
Jekyll gently led me from my room, and I noticed Monique standing in the corridor shaking slightly. When she saw me, her expression was one of pure, undiluted pity. I saw her and Lu talking to the League just before we turned the corner and they disappeared from sight. We reached the infirmary and Jekyll starting rubbing alcohol into my wounds, which stung like a bitch. I kept glancing up at him, but he wouldn't meet my eye.  
He wrapped my fingertips in gauze and when he was done, I finally got sick of his evasion.

"Jekyll, I- I understand that I overreacted back there but-"

He sighed and shook his head.

"If you think I'm shaken by your carnage, Edward has done far worse things for far less." He almost managed a smile. "Your friend explained what happened to you in the past, and what that letter said."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say.

"I just… I wanted to tell you, to explain to you that, well," he swallowed and his next sentence came out quickly "If I'd have known what it was and that this would happen, I would never have touched it, I swear…"

"Wait," I could feel it clicking together in my brain "did _you _take my tracking device off? While I was unconscious after my ribs were broken?"

He gave me the slightest of nods, and I could see the guilt written on his face. He turned away, busying himself by washing his hands. I felt like I should be angry at him, but…

"It's not your fault, Henry. You didn't know."

He looked up at me, surprised. Probably because of what I'd just said, _and _because I'd first-named him for the first time ever.

"You shouldn't blame yourself. Even if you hadn't taken it off, they'd have found a way to lengthen my sentence."

He opened his mouth to say something, but then Mina appeared in the doorway.

"You friends have left." She informed us.

"Thought they would." I muttered.

"They said you should stay on the ship with us for the rest of the day and come to terms with this change. But then they practically ordered us to take you to them tomorrow."

"Alright."

"Danny, if you need to talk to us, we'll listen." With that, she walked out of the room. I turned back to Jekyll.

"I think I'll have a nap first, so I can build up some strength for any lengthy heart-to-hearts. I'm pretty bad at that touchy-feely stuff, so it'll probably be more exhausting that mass destruction. At least I have some experience in that." I managed to laugh and Jekyll gave me a weak smile.  
I trudged back to my room which Nemo's men had already begun to repair. They told me that the Captain had set up a spare room for me in the next corridor, first door on my right- the room opposite Mina's.  
I paused outside her door, and raised my hand as if to knock, but lost my nerve and walked into my own room. I crawled fully clothed into my crisp, never-before-slept-in bed and lay there, as the numbness that had come after my initial anger faded, and was replaced by helplessness and depression. Tears dripped out of the corners of my eyes, so I squeezed them shut to try and get rid of them. I opened my eyes again due to this plans lack of success, and when I opened my eyes there was a figure in the doorway. I felt like I should recognize them, but I couldn't quite place them…  
They stood there for a few long moments, then turned and walked off down the corridor. I dragged myself out of bed and went to the door to try and catch another glimpse of them and see who it was, but when I reached the door, and looked down the hall there was no one there.  
Probably just my frazzled and exhausted mind imagining things.  
I got back into my bed and within a few minutes I was asleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Casa Di Strange

_Authors Note: _Slightly more cheerful chapter. We get to meet the rest of Danny's motley crew, and I've got something special planned for one of the upcoming chapters… it'll be in no way related to the plot, but hey, it'll be fun to write.  
Plus, I have actually been to Venice, and despite being way too warm for my tastes it is simply beautiful.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 4: Casa Di Strange

January 3rd 1900

I woke up today, and it wasn't like it is in books. I didn't have a few moments where I was blissfully unaware of everything that happened yesterday, before it all came flooding back.  
No, it was floating around the foreground of my thoughts, like it had been waiting in the wings while I slept and had just stepped in on cue.  
I was a little worried about facing the others that morning, but I remembered what Mina had said last night, and all misgivings left me. She was an ice queen, to put it nicely, and yet she had been so kind and understanding. The others would be as well, right?

Hopefully.

The journey from my room to the dining room seemed to take forever while at the same time seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. I paused outside of the door, but marched in before I could panic and run away.  
Much to my surprise, Sawyer and Nemo were both missing. I'd planned to speak to the whole group about my outburst (bit of a toning down of events, but whatever) yesterday, and I'd just assumed that they'd all be here. They always were.  
I took my usual seat at the dining table and picked up a golden-brown croissant from one of the trays in the middle of the table. We would be served hot food a little later in the morning, but for now we could nibble on fruit and toast to whet our appetites.  
I started shredding my croissant, caught between the idea of telling the League (minus two) right now so I wouldn't have to prolong my suffering and waiting until the others showed up.  
The decision was made for me.

"Danny, I know what you're thinking." Mina said.

"You do?" I asked gormlessly, looking up from my destroyed pastry.

"We have already discussed what happened yesterday."

"You have?"

"We wanted you to know that…" Jekyll spoke up, but when I caught his eye, that look of guilt flashed across his face. It must be difficult for him, feeling responsible for my current situation.

"… that we're fine with it." Skinner continued for him.

"Fine with it?" I think my brain is broken. Why can't I say proper sentences?

"You getting medieval on everything in your room. Everyone loses their temper sometimes. Besides, if what your friend said was true, you weren't exactly treated fairly by those people you used to work for."

Huh.  
Did I expect this? Not really. Was I pleased? Too shocked to be pleased at the moment, but I will be.  
I started eating the croissant fragments I had been holding and the others also resumed their own breakfasts. We ate in silence until Nemo and Sawyer arrived.  
Nemo sat down without ceremony, but Sawyer swaggered over to me and sat down in the chair next to mine- which was odd, because he would usually try and nab a seat opposite Mina, or if failing that, the one closet to her. Sitting next to me meant I was in between the two of them.

"So, you really did a number on your stuff yesterday." He said brightly.

"Bit of an understatement." I mumbled between bites.

"I wish I could do that."

"What?"

"Come on, you caused some huge damage in there, and you made it look _easy_. If you'd gone up against Moriarty when you were angry, he would have been as helpless as a kitten!"

"I didn't realize I was doing it." I replied in my defence.

"That makes it all the more amazing. I knew you were a witch, but I didn't know you were capable of well, _that_."

I shook my head. I knew that he was by nature, an optimist, but this was just plain weird.

"Sawyer, I may be a witch, but I'm still _only human_. If I can be provoked to such anger that I can rip a room apart, without even realizing I'm doing it, them something is _seriously_ wrong with me. I mean, _I _didn't even realize I was capable of that."

He shrugged.

"Well, maybe you should try using it to your advantage. You could beat anyone, hands down when you're that angry and out of control."

* * *

Once breakfast was done with, we all set off to visit Lucretia & Co. I had to lead the way while they all gawped like typical tourists. I probably did the same thing when I first came here, but after living here for about ten years the effect had worn off.  
I felt almost smug as I strode through the streets, confident of where I was and where I was going, knowing the city as well as a true Venetian. On several occasions I had to stop and wait patiently while they decided to take a closer look at something that had caught their eye, like a particularly stunning bit of architecture or a sweet little shop on a street corner.  
I lead them along the Grand Canal, and Mina seemed rather taken by the pretty, but rather odd-looking Rialto Bridge. Skinner commented that despite being called the Grand Canal, the canal itself wasn't actually very impressive. I had laughed, since I remembered that I had complained to Lucretia about that when we saw it for the first time.  
We stopped to study a few of the stalls selling handmade Venetian masks, one of the things the city is famous for. Despite being crafted well, and painted in dazzling colours, the masks have always creeped me out a little. Sawyer picked up a very large, flashy green and blue mask, which had several feathers sprouting out of the top and bells hanging from the sides like earrings. He shoved it onto my face before I could protest, and the sound of my breathing in that confined space made me think I was trapped in a coffin.

But the sombre thought was quickly got rid of when he said the mask was a great improvement on what was beneath it, so I whacked him on the arm.

Thanks to all the stopping and starting, the trip from the Nautilus to Lucretia's house took twice as long as it normally would and we didn't get there until about half past eleven.  
The house is about halfway down the street, and, like all of the others, is quite tall and thin. On the ground floor of ours, we have the front room which (as the name implies) faces the front, and the kitchen faces the back and leads out onto the veranda.  
The first floor contains my room which faces the front, and Monique's which faces the back. Lu's room is above mine, while Jas's is above Monique- you're probably wondering, well where in tarnation does Catherine sleep?

Answer? In the _basement_. Like the weirdo she is.

Lucretia converted the attic into a sort of training area, where she teaches Catherine, Monique and I how to beat the crap out of people. Well, she teaches Cath and me at least; when it comes to Monique, she just wants to be able to defend herself.

We stopped outside the door, and I knocked three times.  
A minute passed.  
I knocked again, and kicked the door for good measure.  
Another minute passed.

"Perhaps they're not in." Nemo suggested.

"There's always _someone _at home, usually Catherine. Besides, they were expecting us." I responded.

"I'm not supposed to answer the door for strangers." A voice above us said.

We all tilted our heads back and squinted against the late morning sun. Cath was crouched on the windowsill of my room; her arms wrapped around her knees, peering intently down at us through her knee-length, nearly black hair.

"I'm not a stranger." I said. She shrugged. If I stood on tiptoes, and stretched my arm as high as I could, I could touch the tips of her hair.

"I don't know, you're the strangest person I ever met."

"Ha-ha. Very funny. Let us in… and stay out of my room, Rapunzel!"

She clambered off of the windowsill and about fifteen seconds later the door opened and Catherine peered up at us. She was the tiniest person I knew; she was barely five foot high, and she's so fragile and thin sometimes I'm scared I'll break her just by looking at her. I bet if I dropped a feather on her shoulders, the weight of it would push her to the ground.  
She stared at the others with obvious curiosity, not bothering to invite us in or even say hello. She probably would have left us standing there forever, but Lucretia suddenly appeared behind her and beamed.

"Welcome!"

"Hello again, Ms Strange." Nemo gave her a cordial bow, then turned to me "Danny, I'm certain you and your friends have a lot of catching up to do, so we will-"

"Nonsense!" Lucretia cut in "Friends of Danny are friends of all those residing under this ramshackle thing we have the audacity to call a roof," her grin widened and she continued "Besides, I must myself confess to being intrigued quite greatly by what manner of men Danny deems ill enough to curse with her presence."

"Ha-ha." I said dryly.

"All in good humour Danny, all in good humour," she chuckled and shooed Catherine into the house, opening the door wider so we could all go through into the house.

"In lacking the customary weather of the festive season and many weeks on its edges that you must all embrace as a part of your cherished Christmas, we offer in return ourselves- not much, true, but it is all that we have. Welcome, to the most aptly named _c__asa di Strange_!"


	5. Chapter 5: Inspired

_Authors Note: _I apologize for chapter shortness, and also for chapter slowness (this one is kinda dull). The next chapter is going to be v. fun to write though, so I'm looking forward to that.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 5: Inspired

January 3rd 1900

All in all, it went a lot better than I thought it would.  
I'm not sure exactly what I feared would happen, but what actually happened was probably the exact opposite.

Despite the initial awkwardness to start, Monique said that Lucretia had told her, Jasmine and Catherine about the near destruction of Venice and asked what had happened after that. For nearly an hour, the League and myself relayed all of what happened, taking it in turns narrate certain sections.  
Our account was so disjointed I thought my friends might not be able to follow, but they were all rapt with attention- except for Catherine, who sat there, huddled and bent like a vulture, drawing something in her sketchbook. When I examined it later, I realized it was a drawing of the League, all standing side by side, looking like they were about to enter a battle or something. It was a surprisingly cheerful drawing, by her standards.  
Jasmine had a minor panic attack when she heard about Skinner's burns and my broken ribs and was on the brink of tears when it came to Quatermain's death. She is such a wuss! But endearingly so.  
Jas had explained that she had been periodically casting protection spells while I'd been gone to stop me from coming to any harm, and started moping, claiming that she had failed. I pointed out that I was fine now, and maybe her spell had been what protected me from death at the hands of the second Hyde- like divine intervention.  
This cheered her up, and then she started asking Sawyer about America and what it was like.

We all seemed to branch off on our own tangents- Monique and Jekyll started talking animatedly about theirs 'beasts within' (they're as bad as each other when it comes to angsting); I've no idea how they got onto this subject, but Lucretia and Mina were discussing chemistry (does Lu even know anything about chemistry?); Jas somehow managed to rope Nemo into her conversation with Sawyer, and I heard her exclaiming what beautiful wildlife India and America both had (she has a strange fascination with animals, plants and dirt); Skinner and I were left to our own devices, which means we just sat there and talked about nothing while everyone else's conversations raged around us.

When the time for lunch came, Lucretia commanded the League to stay and went away to the kitchen. Nemo asked how the hell she was going to cook for ten people without any sort of prior warning (obviously those weren't his exact words) to which Catherine cryptically replied:

"Do you ask the fish how it will swim?"

At this I leant over and whispered to Skinner "I told you she was a nutter." He chuckled.  
With her super sensitive vampire hearing, Catherine heard my remark and threw a pencil at me.

The League were quite surprised by our casual approach to meals- if the weather allows it, we eat on the veranda, but if it doesn't we all huddle together in front of the fireplace. So, as per tradition, we all went out onto the veranda and ate our lunch- spaghetti carbonara- there. While we usually just sit on the floor, we dragged a table out of the kitchen and set up every chair we had in the house around it, to create a semblance of formality.  
Jekyll complimented Lu on her excellent cooking skills, and she spent the rest of the meal looking smug. So smug, that I felt inclined to kick her under the table, which then started a bit of a war, the two of us frantically trying to out-kick the other. I think that everyone else knew what was going on, because I saw Jasmine and Sawyer kept laughing into their napkins.

After lunch, we were at a loss on what to do. Catherine tapped Lucretia on the shoulder and whispered something in her ear.

"Brilliant!" she cried, grinning "Inspired!" She turned to me.

"Danny, go upstairs and take some of my clothes out of my wardrobe."

"Why?"

"So you can wear them, of course."

I did as I was told, and once I had changed Lu ordered me to go to the attic. When I got there, Catherine had also changed into a pair of trousers and a shirt (her own- she's far too small to wear anything of Lucretias) and had tied her hair up in a bun.  
She and Lucretia stood in the centre of the room, the polished wood floor gleaming beneath their bare feet. The back wall was covered in daggers, spears, knives, machetes, pistols, rifles and medieval flails. You heard me right. Medieval flails. You don't want to be on the receiving end of one of those bastards.  
Three swords had been taken off of the wall and lay neatly side by side at the feet of the League, who were sitting on chairs they must have brought up from the veranda, against the right wall.  
I'd guessed what Catherine's 'brilliant' idea had been. We were going to have a typical training session- but with an audience. Well, at least we were putting on an interesting show for our guests. I rolled my neck as I walked to the centre of the room, loosening my muscles. I felt fluttering in my stomach, and I swallowed, hard.  
Why the hell was I nervous? Was I really _that_ desperate to impress the League?

The three of us, Lu, Cath and me stared each other down, while Monique, who stood with Jasmine on the left side of the room said "You know the drill- the first person whose blood is drawn is eliminated, then the final two go one-on-one… ready?"

"Yes." We said simultaneously.

"Alright," she paused "begin."


	6. Chapter 6: A Wild, Rolling Tornado

_Authors Note: _Completely un-plot related. But don't worry, the plot makes a huge appearance next chapter.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 6: A Wild, Rolling Tornado

January 3rd 1900  
(God it's been a long day)

Catherine sprang at me first, and I had to dive to the floor to avoid a swipe of long, sharp nails. I rolled and tried to get to my feet, but Lucretia kicked me in the face and sent me flying onto my back. Why the hell were they picking on _me_?  
I rolled onto my left side and kicked out with my right leg, knocking Lu's feet out from under her. Now we were both on the floor, Catherine leapt onto us and we became a wild, rolling tornado of fists, feet and those cursed nails of Cath's.  
Lucretia punched Catherine in the throat and she reeled back, hissing. Lucretia didn't get up like I expected her to, but instead straddled me and pinned my arms down. I lifted my legs and crossed them over her stomach. When I stretched my legs out, I pushed her off of me and got to my feet.  
Catherine drove one of her bony elbows into the hinge of my jaw and I stumbled back, but kept my balance. She tried to kick me in the gut, but I punched her square in the face, knocking her to the ground. She is so light; it doesn't take much to get her to fall over.  
Unfortunately, what she lacks in size and raw strength, she makes up for in speed. I had barely blinked before she was up again. She gripped my left wrist with her right hand, and hooked her left arm under my armpit and around my back. With a sharp shove from her left arm, I was flipped over and in a heap on the ground again.  
Catherine was about to attack me again, when we both spotted a flash of light on metal. A sword came whistling through the air towards her, and Catherine leapt back out of its way. Lucretia lunged in an attempt to stab her through the shoulder, but Cath leapt into the air and stood on the blade for a few seconds before somersaulting over Lu's shoulder.

I threw myself across the room to where the two remaining swords lay at the Leagues feet. I wouldn't last much longer in this fight without a sword. I was tempted to sneak a glance at the League to see their reactions to our fight, but allowing myself to get distracted would be an extremely bad move.  
I grabbed one of the swords and spun around to see Catherine directly behind me, brandishing the sword she had evidently just nicked from Lucretia.

Lu picked herself off of the floor while Catherine swung her sword at me. Out blades clashed against each other, and even though she was strong, she was very, very weak by vampire standards. I shoved my sword hard enough to force her own back, and she took a couple of steps back to give herself some space.  
But before she could try and strike again, Lucretia tackled her and sent her sprawling. The two of them rolled around on the wood floor, battling for possession of the sword. I took pity on them, picked up the final sword and tossed it to them.  
The sword was grabbed by Lucretia, which meant she now had both of them. Okay, not exactly what I meant to happen…

Cath stared at her and the two vicious swords for a moment, and then did something I really did not expect.  
She head butted Lu, and grabbed one of the swords in all the confusion. She ran at me, but I dropped my own sword and squatted, avoiding the swinging sword and grabbed her by both ankles. I picked her up, and threw her into a corner.  
I bent to retrieve my own blade and straightened up when I had it, but had to throw myself to the floor to avoid Lucretia, who had just tried to stab me through my side. I dove straight between her legs, leapt to my feet and kicked her as hard as I could in the back. She crumpled as I ran towards Catherine.  
Cath had broken one of her legs when she had landed in the corner, and whilst most vampires take only a minute or two to heal, she takes a little longer. As well as being physically weaker than most vampires, she is also frailer and more breakable.  
Cath's leg had healed, but she had only just managed to pick herself up off the floor. She had her back to me and was bending to pick up her sword. I waited until she stood up, and then swung my blade in a wide arc towards her.  
She heard the swish of the sword and simply back flipped over it, which caused it to hit the wall and get stuck. I was easy prey.  
But Lucretia had recovered and as soon as Cath's feet were on the floor again, Lu drove the tip her sword into her heel. A small bulb of blood formed in the hole Lu's sword had left, and started to roll like a thick red tear down her skin.

"Catherine is out." Monique said redundantly.

Catherine gave Lucretia a slight nod and slid her sword into her belt. She walked over to where Monique and Jasmine stood and sat besides them, hunched over, as usual.  
Lu and I went back to the centre of the room, swords held up before our faces, waiting for the signal.

"Are you ready?" Monique asked.

"Yes."

"Begin."

Our blades raced through the air to meet each other, clanging and clashing as we parried. I was at a disadvantage, to say the least. She is better at sword fighting than I am (well, she's better at all kinds of fighting), and of course, she is a lot stronger. She would strike at me and I would barely manage to keep the tip of her blade from touching my sweat soaked skin.  
She was backing me into a corner, her sword constantly brushing mine aside or pushing it back towards me.  
In my desperation, I kicked her in the knee to make her stumble, and then skipped around her, so she was trapped in the corner instead of me.  
She recovered and leapt at me again, making to slash across my right shoulder. I raised my sword to block hers, but suddenly she dove downwards, trying to cut me across my shins. I leapt about three feet in the air, the sword passing beneath my feet. Before she could rise, I kicked her in the face and sent her sprawling onto her back. She lay there and looked for all the world like a beetle on its back.  
She lashed out a kick at my ankle so I toppled like a house of cards. Her sword came flying towards my face and I rolled away out of its range. She leapt deftly to her feet and I pulled myself off of the floor but she sent me straight back down with a stinging slap from her free hand.

She _slapped _me?  
She's going down.

I shot back up and rammed the hilt of my sword into her wrist. The sword sprang out of her grasp, and I brought my leg up in an arc, kicking her in the chin.  
She fell onto her back again and I raised my sword to strike, aiming to stab her in hip. We were only trying to draw blood after all- I wasn't going to try and cut her head off. Because I've done that before, and it _really _pisses her off.  
But in the same moment that I shoved my sword down into her side, she had picked up her own sword and had stretched her arm up, so the tip of her blade sliced me across the side of my throat.  
We both stopped. The room was silent apart from my laboured breathing.

"It seems we have a draw." Monique observed.  
Lucretia grinned up at me, even though I had just sort of staked her to the floor.

"Excellent." She said.


	7. Chapter 7: Wow

_Authors Note: _Ah, a plot! There is finally a plot to what I am writing! Bask in the plotted-ness.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 7: …Wow

January 3rd 1900  
(Last entry of the day!)

I yanked my sword out of Lucretia's abdomen and held out my hand to help her up. She grabbed it, but I might as well not have bothered. She just leapt effortlessly to her feet, still grinning and said "Excellent." again. She removed her hand from mine wiped the thin stream of blood from my neck with her fingertip. She licked the liquid from her finger and bounded across the room to Catherine, probably to start slurping her blood as well.  
The League had risen from the seats, and Jekyll was rushing towards me.

"I think you need stitches." He said.

"I don't. I've got dozens of injuries like this over the years, and they've never needed stitches. It'll've healed up completely in a few days."

Sawyer came sidling over, his eyes wide and an awestruck grin on his face "That was… _wow_."

"Glad to see my epic struggle with two undead women kept you amused." I smiled.

"I just… I can't _believe _you beat her."

"I didn't technically beat her… also, what do you mean you can't believe it?" I replied, half jokingly, half how-dare-you-I-will-break-your-balls.

"Well I mean she's this…" he looked across the room at her, trying to find the right words to describe her "super strong Amazon like vampire."

"She's taught me pretty much everything she knows, so it stands to reason that I can beat her- or at the very least draw with her."

Mina, Skinner and Nemo approached, all looking at least a little impressed. Nemo shook my hand and murmured "Extraordinary." I looked at Mina, waiting for her to express her opinion. As desperate as it sounds, I really, really wanted to win her approval.

"I don't doubt your abilities," she said "but I did expect that when in combat with a vampire you would lose. Although you did not win, your achievement was immense."

Skinner wasn't quite so restrained in his congratulations, and exclaimed, "Bloody hell, you were amazing!"

"And now you see," Lucretia said, striding over to us and wrapping an arm around my shoulders "what a gift you have in having our little hellcat. Tell me, have you ever seen a human woman of such skill and unsurpassable talent? Of course not. She's a unique and undervalued treasure."

"You three are far too violent." Jasmine sighed, shaking her head as she, Catherine and Monique came to join us.

"I agree," Jekyll said vehemently "I've certainly had my work cut out when Danny is around."

"Violence has its uses." Catherine pronounced.

Jasmine opened her mouth to argue (even though she would never dream of arguing with anyone) but Monique said "I'm fairly certain we've had this debate before, and despite both sides putting forth very good arguments, the entire question was rendered moot when Danny hit me with a chair. So can we please just retire downstairs?"

I changed back into my dress and we all went back into the front room, where Jasmine and Jekyll both pestered me about the cut on my neck and Mina fell victim to Catherine's boredom, and could only sit and watch bemusedly as Catherine drew a long black serpent up her forearm.

"How many more days will you be darkening Venice's streets?" Lu asked Nemo. She never says things the way a normal being would. A normal person would say, "How long will you be in Venice?", but no, that would be far too hard for her.

"We've haven't discussed it, but we will most likely be here for another week."

"And then you'll whisk our mutual friend away beyond the horizon." she smiled wistfully "Take her somewhere fascinating. If she must be parted from us for many months more, at least make it so she will many an interesting tale to tell us when she returns… speaking of interesting tales," she leant forward in her chair "has she told you much of her previous exploits? Before she joined the League?"

"The only things we ever heard of her previous life were of you and your friends." Nemo replied truthfully.

Monique's eyebrows shot up and she cried "That can't be right! She forever boasts about the things she has done."

"No I don't." I snapped.

"Yes, you do." Lu and Catherine said simultaneously.

"You do just slightly." Jasmine admitted. If even Jasmine says it, it must be true.

"What sort of stuff has she done?" Sawyer asked.

"She killed that band of trolls that were living under Tower Bridge." Monique answered.

"And she rescued that mermaid from the Thames." Catherine added.

"She cut out that witches eyes." Lucretia said.

"What witches eyes?" Jasmine frowned.

"A witch who could kill people just by looking at them. It was before your time."

"She also-" Catherine started but I cut across her saying "It was all a long time ago, and I don't like to dwell on it."

Of course I didn't like to dwell on it. I'd been working for the Collective when I'd done all those things. Yes, many of the things I had done while in their employ had been good, but that just made the way I'd been treated that much worse.

"I think it's time we went back to the Nautilus." I said, a little coldly.

"It _is _getting rather late." Jekyll agreed, checking his pocket watch.

"I must confess to feeling a little worn out." Mina said- I think she could feel my unease at the latest topic of discussion and was trying to help rescue me.

"Me too," I wasn't completely lying. The fight had been rather tiring "I swear the other day I was so exhausted I started seeing things."

"Huh, funny," Skinner said thoughtfully "just this morning I thought I saw someone up on deck, but it was empty. Probably just this heat."

"Wait a minute," Jasmine said, a hint of urgency in her voice, "Danny, what did you see?"

"I thought I saw someone standing in the doorway when I was trying to sleep." I told her. What was she getting at?

"Have any of you seen anything odd?" Jas addressed the rest of the League. "People who weren't there? Have things moved without being touched?"

"Now that you mention it," Nemo pondered, "some members of my crew have reported seeing things levitating without any apparent means of being suspended, and a strange presence about the ship."

Jasmine looked grave.

"Do you know what this means?"

"What?" I asked.

"Your ship is being haunted by a ghost."

Skinner chuckled "A ghost? Seriously?"

"This coming from the invisible man." Catherine said icily.

"How can you be sure?" Mina asked. She seemed to genuinely be taking Jasmine seriously.

"I can't, not yet… I know, I'll come to the Nautilus tomorrow, and see if I can find your ghost."

"You can feel the presence of a ghost?" Nemo asked. She nodded. The League waited for a few moments, waiting for her to elaborate, but she didn't.  
We all said goodbye to Lu and the others and made our way back through the darkening streets of Venice to the Nautilus. Skinner held me back while the others walked ahead.

"Your friend… was she really telling the truth about the ship being haunted?" he asked me.

"She never lies. Besides, ghosts are her speciality. If anyone could recognize the signs of a haunting, she could." I answered.

"Do _you _think it's haunted?"

"Hard to say. We'll just have to wait for Jas's verdict. We should probably catch up with the others."

I started walking, but he cleared his throat and when I looked back, I saw he was offering me his arm. Second time in as many days.

"The 'gentleman' part of 'gentleman thief' emerges." I grinned and took his arm.

"I'm just trying to appreciate you for the 'unique and undervalued treasure' you are."

I laughed. You had to hand it to him, he did know how to make a woman laugh when things were getting too sombre and serious.  
All thoughts of ghosts fled my mind as we continued on our way, arm in arm.


	8. Chapter 8: Jasmine's Story

_Authors Note: _If anyone knows the book series Lyle House is from, they should congratulate themselves on having good taste in novels.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 8: Jasmine's Story

January 4th 1900

Before I continue with today's events, I feel I have some explaining to do.  
Jasmine isn't Jasmine's real name.  
Her real name is Olivia Sunday, and she lived the first six years of her life in an orphanage in London. She was given the surname Sunday because all children who found themselves at Lyle House were given the day they arrived there as their last name.  
Anyway, she lived an average life with no sort of excitement at all, until one day one of her friends fell down a flight of stairs and broke her leg. She was whisked away to hospital, and luckily, they managed to save her limb, but she had to stay there a good many weeks.  
Jasmine (well, Olivia) begged to go and visit her, and eventually her carers relented and took her to see the girl. This would have been a perfectly harmless and ordinary occurrence, but it was here Jas made a very important discovery.

She can see ghosts.

Normal people catch the occasional glimpse of them- spooky figures, disembodied hands, something moving in the corner of their vision. But she was one of the few people who can really _see _them.  
While at the hospital, she saw a terrifying wraith. A burn victim who had died of their wounds was haunting the place, and approached Jasmine when they realized she could see them. Jas ran screaming out of the hospital, the ghost dragging their withered and wasted form after her.  
Her carers expressed concern for her, certain she was going mad. She was shoved into the psychiatric ward of the hospital she had tried to get away from and was once again approached by the ghost.  
What the hell they wanted, I'm not altogether sure of, but if Jas's accounts are anything to go by, it didn't seem like it wanted to do anything nice and friendly. The nature of its haunting was mostly trying to suffocate patients with pillows or stabbing doctors with their own surgical equipment.  
After spending a few days in that place, she realized she could not risk sticking around when a spirit who was clearly angry at the world was terrorizing everyone. One evening, she slipped out of her room and darted through the hospital until she found an open window on the ground floor. She leapt out of it and climbed the rails that separated the grounds from the street, completing her escape.  
She probably would have lived on the streets and died of starvation, cholera, or something, but as luck would have it, Monique stumbled across her when she was coming home from church. Monique saw a scared, sobbing little girl clad only in a hospital gown- how could she not have brought her home?  
When she was presented to Lucretia, I knew from the look on her face that there was no doubt we were keeping her. As odd as it sounds, she is actually very maternal. You wouldn't expect it of someone as brutish and masculine, but everyone is full of surprises.  
Catherine was slightly less of a sociopath back then, and she was only a couple of years older than Jasmine, so the two became fast friends.  
I was a little sceptical about having two little girls running about the house, but they were a pair of little angels. Besides, Jasmine spent (and still spends) most of her time outdoors, despite her albinism.  
So Jasmine stayed and that was how we became our little quintet.  
And now, on with the ghost-hunt.


	9. Chapter 9: Let's Go Catch Us A Ghost!

_Authors Note: _I should tell you that all spells and incantations (except the summoning spell) in this story were not invented by me but taken from several internet sources.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 9: Let's Go Catch Us A Ghost!

January 4th 1900

I woke up to the sound of someone knocking a little hesitantly on my door.  
I sat up and called "Yes?", making an effort not to sound groggy and irritated. The door opened a crack and one of Nemo's mean peered in, looking a little embarrassed at having to enter my room while I was still in my night attire, and in bed.

"I'm sorry to bother you Miss Hollow, but your friends are here, and are inquiring after you."

"Already?" I squawked, snatching the clock off of the nightstand, to see that the time was half past ten. Oops… that'll be why they're already here.  
Cursing the League under my breath (why couldn't they just _wake me up_?) I said "Tell them I'll be with them momentarily."  
After he'd scuttled off to deliver my message, I dragged myself out of bed and threw on the dress Mina had given me for Christmas. It was probably the nicest garment I had ever and would ever own, so I wanted to show it off to my friends.  
I had been so thrilled by the present, I had insisted on wearing it on Christmas day, and the entire situation had spiralled out of control until Mina and I stayed up half the night pampering ourselves so we would look suitably stunning for the occasion. Usually I wasn't that fussed about such things, but this dress made me feel like a princess.  
I felt that I ought to put some extra effort into my appearance to do justice to my gown, but found I didn't have the time or the effort. I pinned my hair in it's usual haphazard bun, from which strands of hair would constantly be coming loose and falling down over my shoulders and shoved my feet into the first pair of boots I grabbed.  
I stepped out of my room and took a second to think about where they would be. Nemo would think the boardroom too formal a place to take his guests, so odds were they'd be in the library. That room was used for everything recreational on this canoe.  
I walked to the library and sure enough, they were all piled in there making small talk while they waited for me. I sauntered in and almost laughed at the sight of Jasmine. She was standing there, stiff as a post and looked about two seconds away from bolting. She'd been fine the other day, when she was in her own house, with Lu, me and the others around her, but now she was in a vast intimidating ship surrounded by a bunch of peculiar strangers, and she didn't much like it.

"Morning all." I said.

Jasmine beamed. "Good morning, Danny."

"I trust you slept well." Nemo said, a ghost of a smile on his lips. It seems to amuse him no end that I usually sleep for half the day completely without meaning to and then getting all annoyed and flustered that I can't break this habit and no one ever seems to find the time to wake me up at a decent hour.

"You were just getting to the good part." Sawyer whined to Jasmine.

"Good part?" I asked.

"He kept pestering her about ghosts," Catherine's voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw she was standing behind the door. "She humoured him by telling him about that ghost she exorcised from that abandoned house last year."

Sawyer moved forward onto the edge of his seat "You'd just got to the part where you'd gone into the attic and a white, icy hand came down on your shoulder and-"

"What are _you _doing here?" I demanded, turning back to Catherine.

"Wanted to see the ship. Monique said it was amazing, and Lucretia said it was too big and overdramatic."

"What's your opinion?"

She considered the question for a minute before simply saying "Impressive."

"Now that we are all assembled, shall we begin this…?" Nemo struggled to find the right term.

"Ghost hunt. That's what we call these things." I informed him.

"There are a couple of things we have to do before we start." Jasmine said, walking to the mantelpiece and picked up a very large, heavy looking satchel. She flung the strap over her shoulder and started rooting around inside while we watched her, wondering what on earth she was going to produce. I'd gone with her to exorcise ghosts before, but I had never actively taken part in one of her ghost hunts. She pulled her hand out, brandishing six small pouches.

"Each of you needs to have one of these." She told us, and started handing them out. "Put them in your pocket or wear them around your neck." She seemed quite relaxed now that her expertise was being put into action.

"What for?" Skinner asked, a little suspiciously.

"It's a combination of periwinkle and caraway, and it'll help protect you from harm."

"What makes you think the ghost wants to hurt us?" Jekyll asked, unable to hide the trace of anxiety in his voice.

Jasmine shrugged "You can't be too careful… also, where has the ghost been sighted?"

"Well, the only two people that have caught a glimpse of it are Danny and me, as far as I know," Skinner answered "I saw it up on deck and Danny saw hers outside of her room."

"The crew have reported inanimate objects moving without being touched in the dining room, the library, the boardroom and the League's sleeping quarters." Nemo added. Jasmine's hand went back inside her satchel.

"Actually, something weird happened to me this morning." Sawyer spoke up. Jasmine gestured for him to elaborate.

"When I woke up, my bed was hovering about six inches off of the floor. And then when I was about to start shaving, my mirror shattered, and I wasn't even anywhere _near_ it."

"Aren't you a bit young to be shaving?" I asked him playfully.  
He picked up one of the cushions from his seat (the dosser- everyone _else _was standing up, but he was still lounging in a chair) and threw it at me. I flicked my wrist, making the air move and sending the cushion flying back to him. Sadly, he ducked before it hit him, so it bounced harmlessly across the carpet.  
Jasmine pulled out a pack of chalk and handed us each a piece.

"If you see something move, draw a line showing where it was so we can measure how much it moves," she turned to Nemo and said apologetically "I'm sorry, but we might be leaving a lot of dirty chalk marks of your vessel."

"If there really is a ghost on the Nautilus, I think chalk marks are the least of our problems." He seemed unsure whether to be amused or bemused by Jasmine's blatant sincerity when apologizing for vandalizing his ship. In the end, he seemed to choose neither, but settled instead for finding it sweet.

"And there is… one final thing… I need to get out… before we go." She kept pausing as she tried to find the final item(s) in her bag.

"Can we get on with this?" I demanded "This is the boring bit and it's… boring."

"Act in haste, repent at leisure." Catherine said solemnly behind me, "That's what Lucretia would say." I scowled at her.  
A black candle slipped out of Jasmine's satchel, but Mina caught it before it hit the ground. Even though she is a professional ghost hunter who was raised by a witch, a werewolf and two vampires, her already large grey eyes went as wide as saucers at Mina's inhuman reflexes. Mina slipped the candle back in her satchel with a modest little smile, and Jasmine resumed her rummaging. I hissed and tapped Jekyll on the shoulder.

"What time is it?" I asked.

He withdrew his pocket watch "Five minutes to eleven," he told me "do you think this 'ghost hunt' will take very long?"

"I'm not sure, I've never actually been on one before. If we were anywhere but the Nautilus, I wouldn't think it would take that long, but this place is a never ending labyrinth."

"We won't search the whole ship," Catherine said. She'd started inching slowly towards the League, and was now only standing about a foot away from us. She looked more comfortable being around humans who were foreign to her than she usually did, and I knew she was making the effort because Jasmine seemed to like them. "Just the dining room, library, boardroom, and sleeping quarters."

Jasmine finally found what she was looking for. She pulled out about half a dozen dozen wind chimes.

"What, pray tell, are _those _for?" I asked, somewhat sceptically.

"Ghost catchers- well, just ordinary wind chimes really," she explained "They're ideal for detecting ghosts inside buildings. If they're put somewhere away from the wind and drafts, they'll chime when a ghost walks past. We'll hang them up around the areas with most ghost activity."

"Are we ready to catch this thing?" Sawyer jumped out of his chair, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Gosh, something tells me he's excited…

"Yes, yes I think so."

"All right," I clapped my hands together "let's go catch us a ghost!"


	10. Chapter 10: Here We Go Again

_Authors Note: _Slightly short, oh well. More exciting thing coming up in a chapter or two, hurrah! Look forward to it.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 10: Here We Go Again

January 4th 1900

Armed with bags of shredded plants, chalk and wind chimes we set out on our ghost hunt.  
While I always thought a ghost hunt would involve just sitting around in the dark with a couple of candles, waiting for a rotting face to jump out at me or for furniture to start floating, it actually involved strolling through the corridors and going wherever Jasmine's surreal sixth sense took us.  
The first place we went was the boardroom and after a few minutes just standing in there, Jasmine declared that "There's certainly a presence in here, but it's very, very weak." She put a ghost catcher on the door handle and we continued on.

"This exciting enough for you?" I asked Sawyer, whose enthusiasm for the ghost hunt had dampened when he realized what it entailed.

"I thought a ghost hunt would be like, well, a real _hunt_. Tracking it through the ship, chasing it and trapping it, or something along those lines."

"Don't worry, if we exorcise the ghost, that'll certainly be exciting; but maybe not in the good way."

Luckily we'd already been to the library and Jas had said that had been pretty much dead (pardon the pun) so we moved to the dining room. When we entered, Jasmine narrowed her eyes to ash coloured slits, and started pacing up and down the length of the table.

"Anything special?" Skinner asked, as she stopped to lay a hand on what was once Quartermain's chair.

"It's… it's definitely stronger in here. There is a good chance might be the spirit's 'headquarters' as it were- the main point of its energy. But I'm not completely certain…"

"Check the sleeping quarters. To make sure." Catherine suggested and Jas nodded absently. We exited and hung another ghost catcher on the handle. We went to the last area we had to check- the League's chambers. When we entered one of the corridors, Jasmine literally stopped and froze like a statue.

"Whoa…" she murmured.

"What is it?" Mina frowned as Jasmine started to sway slightly.

"This is where it's strongest, isn't it?" Jekyll asked gently. Jas nodded and started walking slowly and painstakingly forward. She closed her eyes, and held out her palms as if feeling the air in front of her.

"Does anything unusual occur when you pinpoint the strongest point?" Nemo asked, seemingly fascinated by the concentration on her white face as she felt the full force of something we weren't even getting a hint of.

"Yes, but it varies from ghost to ghost," she replied, her words quiet "it might just be a tingling feeling, or I might get a headache, a nosebleed, or I might have a seizure-"

"A seizure?" Jekyll scowled, disapproving of Jasmine risking her health to locate our household ghost.

"I'm sure you won't let me swallow my tongue." She stopped in the middle of the corridor, and looked back at us. "Who lives in these two rooms?" The corridor only had two doors- two rooms- in it.

"The room down there was Gray's" Mina said with obvious disgust, pointing to the door at the other end of the hall "and the room at the other end," she pointed back the way we had come "was Quartermain's."  
Jasmine suddenly froze again, all her muscles visibly clenching. We all tensed as well, wondering what was wrong. She turned, extremely slowly away from us, staring at nothing.

"What is it? What is she doing?" Skinner hissed.

"It's here." Catherine said.

"The ghost is here?" Sawyer whispered.

"Why are you whispering? It can still hear us."

Nemo peered past Jasmine, but like the rest of us, saw nothing.

"Why can't we see the spirit?" he didn't whisper, but kept his voice low.

"Seeing ghosts is her gift, isn't it? We must only be able to see it when it wants to be seen." Mina suggested.

"You hit the nail on the head." I murmured.

She gasped, and I swear I saw all the hairs on her body stand on end. She seemed to relax slightly but then she bent double, coughing her lungs out. Not caring if the ghost was still here or not, we all ran to her. She was coughing up great frothy splatters of blood that were hitting the floor like rain despite her attempt to cover her mouth with her hands.  
Jekyll put his arm around her thin shoulders trying to help her stand up straight and simply said "Infirmary."  
We hurried to the infirmary even though Jasmine gasped between coughs "There's no need."

"Quiet." Jekyll said harshly, so harshly I was tempted to write snapped- he really is not the type to snap, but he can be very stern when it comes to medical matters. Apart from when he turns into Hyde, this was probably him at his most masculine.  
Mina also wrapped her arm wound Jasmine's shoulders to support her, and I'm pretty sure that she had the ulterior motive of touching Jekyll's hand as well as aiding Jasmine. It seems the best conclusion since she was visibly uncomfortable at being in such close proximity to blood and not being able to drink it.  
Once we got there, Jekyll sat her down on one of the beds and started mopping up the blood. He looked up at the rest of our party, and for a moment I thought he would ask us to leave, but he changed his mind.  
Jasmine continued trying to talk despite the coughing "It's just," cough, splat "a reaction to" cough, splat "being so close to" cough splat "the ghost's energy. It's" cough, splat "very powerful."  
Despite the severity of the 'reaction', she was right. It stopped after a minute and then she was completely fine.

"I appreciate your concern; really," she addressed the rest of the League "Not many people would be so worried about a stranger."

"Any friend of Danny's is a friend of ours." Skinner replied, trying his best to sound casual and unaffected. Jasmine tends to have that affect on people; they find it very easy to like her and get along with her, and she seems so gentle and naïve that they try to protect her from harm.

"I am _so _sorry that I got blood on your floors." She emphatically to Nemo.

"It's not important. The important thing is that you're unharmed- and," he changed the subject "this confirms that we are being haunted?"

"Yes." She nodded gravely.

"Just when we thought thing were calming down," Sawyer sighed, but had a small smile on his face "here we go again."


	11. Chapter 11: I Guess It Catches A Soul

_Authors Note: _Ah, another book reference. Again, if anyone knows where the Soul Catcher (I only borrowed the name- the _other _Soul Catcher has a different use) comes from, again, congratulate yourself on having good taste in books.  
Only a few more chapters until action scene take place, which I greatly look forward to writing.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 11: I Guess It Catches A Soul

January 4th 1900

Jekyll seemed a little confused at how quickly Jasmine had gone from coughing up fountains of blood to being in perfect health within a matter of minutes, but eventually decide to chalk it up to supernatural phenomenon (which is exactly what it was) and insisted on giving her a glass of water anyway.  
We all went back to the library- Nemo's first choice would have been the boardroom to discuss our plan of action, but he was worried that the traces of ghostly activity there might trigger another violent reaction, so he thought the library, which had the least traces would be safest.  
Anyway, so once we were in the library we all took seat and I noticed the other members of the League would keep glancing at Jas, probably to make sure her head hadn't exploded or something.

"Ok, so," I said to start the conversation "we've confirmed that there is in fact a ghost on the Nautilus. Now what do we do?"

"I think the first course would be to figure out who the ghost is and what they want," Nemo replied. "as far as we can tell, they have no malicious intent."

"All ghosts are malicious in one way or another. They're never contented," Catherine said coldly "if left alone, it will eventually do _something_."

"You're such a positive person." I said brightly.

"I'm a realist."

"Children, please stop arguing." Jasmine sighed.

"But you're the youngest of the three of us, and you call _us_ children?" Catherine raised an eyebrow.

"Captain Nemo is right;" she ignored Catherine "we should find out who the ghost is. Didn't you say yesterday that a couple of League members as well as members of your crew died in Mongolia?"

"If they died in Mongolia, wouldn't they be haunting the fortress?" Jekyll asked.

"Not necessarily. Some ghosts haunt places that had great importance in their life, not the place of their death."

Sawyer snapped his fingers "Of course! Isn't it obvious?"

"What's obvious?" Skinner asked.

"The ghost is Quatermain! He was one of the people who died in the fortress, and he'd be haunting the ship because, well, he and I…" he couldn't finish and didn't need to. Everyone knew that Quatermain had been like a father to him. I put my hand on his arm.

"It's alright Sawyer." Mina said gently by way of consolation. Of course, the men were far too manly to say anything to comfort him and left it to us women. I felt a little stupid that the rest of us had not realized that it would be Quatermain. He had been the leader of our little group, and we'd all respected and (yes, I'll admit it) liked him, despite the fact that he was a crotchety old man. I like to think he had liked and respected all of us too.

"Well, since it most likely _is _Quatermain, I think you should get to decide how we deal with him." I said.

"Really?"

"Makes the most sense." I shrugged and removed my hand, trying not to get embarrassed by the overwhelming gratitude in his eyes. I glanced up and saw Catherine leaning over and whispering in Jasmine's ear. Whatever she had said obviously didn't sit well with her, because Jas shook her head vehemently and I'm pretty sure she said "You _can not _say that." Ah, dear Catherine with her social skills of minus nine thousand. She could never get anything right when it came to social conventions.  
Sawyer was struggling to get a hold of himself, but eventually managed to say, with barely a waver in his voice.

"I… I want to see him. I want to speak to him, and say goodbye, properly, you know?" He turned to Jasmine "Can't we have a séance or something?"

She pursed her lips, and I think that even Jas, with her heart the size of the bloody sun would have said no if it had not been for that pleading puppy look (which complemented his kicked puppy look very nicely).

"You often here of séances and people contacting ghosts these days, but it really isn't that easy. You need someone like me who can see ghosts, and you need a Soul Catcher."

"What's a Soul Catcher?" Mina asked.

"I guess it something that catches a soul." Skinner said, which received a scowl from her.

"Actually, yes it does, sort of. It's a magical device, which I can use to trap a ghost in one place, and make the ghost as visible to other people as it is to me, so they can communicate with it. Soul Catchers are extremely rare, though." Jasmine explained.

"How do we get one?" Sawyer demanded.

"Actually… there's one here in Venice." she looked at her hands.

"Great! Where is it?"

"I think it's not so much a question of where it is, as who it's with." Catherine said, looking very pointedly at me. This can't be leading anywhere good.

"Who's it with then?" Sawyer was oblivious to how uncomfortable Jasmine was with this whole Soul Catcher business. She sighed and looked at me.

"The Collective."


	12. Chapter 12: Comeuppance!

_Authors Note: _'Squee' is my happy sound. Next two chapters will be a sort of double-parter-ed thing and will be full of excitement and crime!  
Also, the appearance of the Soul Catcher – a "glass ball wrapped in bits of wire" to quote Danny – is my way of making fun of what passes as art these days. You can throw a bucket of paint at a canvas and call it art, it is ridiculous.  
A planchette is basically a Ouija board, but they weren't called that until 1901.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 12: Comeuppance!

January 4th 1900

"Oh, that is _perfect_!" I clapped my hands together in delight.

"What on earth do you mean it's 'perfect'?" Mina frowned.

"Just a couple of days ago you ripped your room apart at the mere mention of them." Sawyer exclaimed- overdramatizing a bit there…

"Comeuppance!" I cried, "We're going to steal it!"

"Are we?" Jekyll said, blinking like a bewildered fish out of water.

"Hell yes we are!"

"Isn't that just a touch illegal?" Catherine asked coolly.

"Yes, yes, a million times yes!" I was practically bouncing off the walls. But I took a deep breath and turned to Nemo.  
"We _can _steal it can't we?"

"In any other circumstance, I wouldn't allow you to do this, but… considering the nature of this ghost," he said the word ghost as if it were peculiar and ridiculous to use it in a serious way "debacle, I think I can turn a blind eye to the more unsavoury side of this affair."  
I think the exact sound I made was "squee!"

"Ok, ok, I think I have a plan," I said, planting my hands on my hips while my mind raced "Skinner, you will naturally be stealing the Soul Catcher- you are our gentlemen thief, after all."

"Sure you don't want to do it yourself?" I could hear the smile in his voice, like he found my super charged bubbliness at the thought of nicking something funny.

"Nah, me and Sawyer are gonna be the distraction."

"Me?" Sawyer asked.

"Yeah, you have an honest face."

"What's honesty got to do with anything when we're about to steal something from them?"

"You and I are going to make sure they don't _know _we're stealing from them until it's too late. My plan is that we will ask to meet with the Head Mage, the guy who runs the Venetian branch, and walk in straight through the front door, Skinner will come in with us, naked so they won't know there's a third person in our party, he'll sneak off to the vault where they keep all their magic toys while you and I distract everyone else."

"How will chatting to this Head Mage guy be a distraction?" Skinner asked.

"I'm public enemy number one," I beamed "they won't trust me alone in a room with the Head Mage; they'll think I'm trying for an assassination attempt or something. _Everyone _will be there, to make sure I don't try anything stupid."

"Ok, but why do I have to go with you?" Sawyer asked slowly.

"They'll think it's suspicious if I'm alone, but won't think you're a threat because you're only a mortal."

"Just wait till they're on the receiving end of my Winchester," he muttered then added "hey, you'll get to use yours for the first time!"

I shook my head, "No guns."

"We have to go in unarmed?" he yelped.

"They won't let us in if we've got guns."

"But-"

"Wait," Skinner cried throwing up his hands, "we're getting ahead of ourselves. We waltz in through the front door, I go to the magic vault… but how the hell am I supposed to get in it?"

"Aha!" I grinned even wider "for that we'll need…" I trailed off. For that, we'd need what I had affectionately named the Houdini solution, which was a potion from my books… that had been burned when the fortress exploded.

"Fuck!" I yelled. Jekyll nearly fell out of his chair, Nemo's eyebrows disappeared into his turban and Mina went as red as a poppy but I didn't care.

"I'd need the Houdini solution, but I can't make it since my fu- damned books got burnt."  
Jasmine, who had been intently listening to our conversation and actually _had _fallen out of her chair when I swore, got to her feet and shoved her hand inside her satchel.

"You mean you need some of _this_?" She held out a small bottle filled with a pale, cloudy purple liquid.

"Yes… why do you have it?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes.

"In case I need a quick getaway."

I took the bottle from her, deciding not to make any comments (what would she possibly need a quick getaway for? I can't see _her _nicking anything anytime soon) and handed it to Skinner.

"Before we go into their HQ, drink this. It'll give you the ability to pass through walls for one hour- just picture yourself passing through the wall and it will happen, it's easy."

"If I get stuck inside a wall, I'm blaming you." He said half-jokingly half-serious.

"While Skinner sets off to sneak into the vault, we'll distract the Head Mage. When Skinner is done, he will creep to the meeting room, which is where they'll take us, he'll whistle and we'll run like hell out of there."

"Not a bad plan, all things considered." Mina mused.

"Wait, one more thing," Skinner said, "what does the Soul Catcher look like?"

"Glass ball wrapped in bits of wire. Trust me; you'll know it when you see it, since it's so hideous."

"Are you sure it will be safe, just the three of you going?" Nemo's brow furrowed in concern.

"Nothing we ever do is safe. Besides, if things don't go according to plan, they won't hurt us because they'll think it's uncivilised. Skinner and Sawyer will get off lightly because they are only mortals, and I'll be tossed in jail. If that happens, I want you to know I expect a very impressive break in to free me."

Mina laughed, "How could you expect anything less?"

"So… are we doing this now?" Sawyer asked.

"Nah, I think we will have the rest of the day off and execute this thing tomorrow." I replied breezily. There was silence for a moment, and then Sawyer asked,

"Anyone got a planchette?"

"They don't work." Jasmine said with a small smile. Catherine dropped a sheet of paper in my lap, and when I looked at it, I saw it was a portrait of me in my fancy red dress with my hair wild and loose.

"You don't look right with your hair up." She explained.

"Are you _sure _they don't work?" Sawyer demanded, refusing to drop the subject.

"Yes, very sure."

"You should listen to her; she evidently knows what she is talking about." Mina told him.

"But I'm older." He whinged.

"So?" I think the difference in attitude and maturity has really caught up with those two. They are still good friends, but they now see nothing could ever happen between the two of them, thank god. That was pretty much how the whole day went, us just sitting in the library chatting until Lucretia came to pick what she called 'her girls' up.  
I can not get to sleep, I'm too worried about tomorrow. I still want to steal the Soul Catcher but I just… can't put it into words. Staying up and scrawling in this old thing won't help my insomnia. I'll lay down and at least try to sleep. So, goodnight.


	13. Chapter 13: Off To See The Wizard Pt 1

_Authors Note: _The Wizard of Oz wasn't invented back then, but that quote was too perfect not to use.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 13: Off To See The Wizard Pt. 1

January 5th 1900

"This'll work, right?" Skinner hissed as we walked down the gangplank and into the square. He was naked, so I had to whisper so I wouldn't look like I was talking to myself: "Probably."  
"That fills me with confidence that does." He muttered.  
"I'm sure it'll be fine." Sawyer said brightly, as we turned left and started walking alongside the Grand Canal.  
"Easy for you to say, you're not going to get stuck in a wall." He said sulkily.  
"You won't get stuck in a wall," I murmured "Now be quiet, we'll be there in a minute and we'll give you away if we keep talking to you."  
We crossed the Rialto Bridge, went down a busy street and turned into a very narrow alley. The buildings on either side of us were so close together that they blocked out all sunlight, and the only hint that it was daytime was the sliver of bright blue above us.  
About half way down the alley we stopped in front of a tall door with peeling green paint. Sawyer stared at it for a few seconds before saying,  
"_That's _the entrance?"  
"Yep."

I knocked on the door and a few chips of paint stuck to my knuckles. As I was brushing them off, the door was opened a crack by a tall, very thin man. He sneered and said, "Oh, it's you."  
"It'd be worrying if I wasn't me, because then I'd be someone else entirely," I chirped "My friend and I'd like to speak to the Head Mage, please."  
He scowled at Sawyer, staring openly and with great mistrust. "A mortal?" he asked, with a trace of disgust in his voice. "_This _is who you choose to be your protector?"

"I don't need protecting," I replied "Now to the Head Mage, if you don't mind."

"You don't have an appointment."

"You would never let me make an appointment in the first place. Let us in."  
He glared at me, but flung the door open and stomped off down the hall on the inside, beckoning us to follow him. I stepped inside, Sawyer and Skinner following closely behind. We hurried after the man, who had nearly reached the end of the corridor. The walls were off-white, and the carpet was thick and dark grey. There was no decoration at all. All Collective Headquarters looked the same, and I'd always thought that this was what limbo would look like.  
The corridor ended in a large room with a glass ceiling. The glass was frosted, and through it we could see the feet of people on the upper floor as they walked over our heads. The room had three other corridors branching off from it like compass points.

"Wait here, I'm going to speak to the Head Mage about how you should be dealt with." He said coldly, and walked away down the hallway opposite the one we had just walked down.  
Once he had turned the corner, I said "Okay Skinner, it's time for you to go to the vault," I pointed to the hall on our left "go down there, turn right and it'll be the tenth door on your left. The door will be locked, so you'll have to go through the wall. Go down the stairs, all the way to the bottom, and the vault will be right in front of you."

"Right," he replied "how will I find you when I'm done?"  
I pointed to the corridor the man had just gone down. "Down there, turn right, and we'll be through the double doors straight ahead."

"Right, ok," his footsteps began to move away from us "see you two later."  
We stood in silence for a minute before Sawyer asked "Why haven't you done something like this before?"

"What do you mean?"

"Got your revenge by stealing something of theirs. It's the kind of thing you'd do. And I mean that in the nicest way possible." He added with a smile when I glared at him.

"Who says I haven't?" I smirked "How do you think I know the building so well? I've taken things before; they just didn't make the connection between me and the stuff they were missing."

"You little hellcat!" He laughed. The man came back round the corner and our faces lost their smiles.

"He's in the meeting room. You have ten minutes, maximum." He told us. Would that be enough time? I hoped so.  
We followed him down the hall, turned right and were faced with wide, shining black doors. Sawyer and I exchanged glances to reassure one another, and stepped through the doors.  
As I had predicted, the room was filled. Guards, agents, even the bloody secretaries had all been called forth to watch us and protect the Head Mage. They all stood round the corners of the room, trying to look menacing, while the Mage himself sat at the head of a long, oval glass table. We walked up the side of the table towards him, every eye on us. Sawyer started to pull out one of the chairs a couple of feet down the table from the Head Mage when he snarled, with a strong Italian accent "Who said you could be seated?"

Sawyer took a step back, hands raised. I rolled my eyes at the Head Mage's immaturity, but took a deep breath and said sweetly:

"It's nice to see you again."

"The feeling isn't mutual." He spat.

"Oh good, because I was lying."

"Well, you and your farm lad toy boy came here for a reason, didn't you? Spit it out and get this over with."

"Hey, I may not be her 'toy boy'" Sawyer exclaimed before I could say anything "But any man would be lucky to have her."

"He's here for moral support," I said before the Head Mage could make any comments on Sawyer's statement "Anyway, we came here to ask you to lift my probation."

"You're wasting your time. The day I alleviate your punishment, is the day hell freezes over."

"Then maybe Satan will be ice-skating to work today."

"What you did to her wasn't fair," Sawyer protested "and you know it. _Everyone _knows it. She was falsely accused, but you sick freaks just wanted to make her squirm."

"Whatever she told you is a lie. You shouldn't trust her."

"I trust her over you. And-"

"It doesn't matter if I was lying," I interrupted "Let's say I did betray the Collective the way you said I did. I was dispelled and disgraced. I'm no longer part of the establishment. I've learnt my lesson, haven't I?" Even though I didn't want to admit to them- I could barely admit it to myself- I had entertained fantasies that while we were distracting him with this, he would actually relent and let me off my probation. I was practically begging him now.

"People like you never learn your lesson." He said flatly.  
Sawyer, who looked outraged, opened his mouth to say something, but what he was going to say I will never know.  
We heard a long, high-pitched whistle from outside the door.


	14. Chapter 14: Off To See The Wizard Pt 2

_Authors Note: _Second part of the double part-er. Not sure if this counts as an action chapter or not, but nevermind.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 14: Off To See The Wizard Pt. 2

January 5th 1900

Sawyer and I glanced at each other, before turning back to the Head Mage, who, like everyone in the room, looked confused by the whistle we'd just heard.

"Fuck you," I spat "fuck you and your lousy organization."

We turned and sprinted out of the door, almost crashing into Skinner. We didn't stop, but swerved round the corner, back down the corridor and through the room with the glass ceiling. I heard the Head Mage shouting, and then footsteps coming round the corner behind us. I resisted the urge to look back, and the three of us ran faster as we headed for the door we had come in through.  
We burst out into the alley and slammed into the brick wall opposite the door. Hurling ourselves out into the street, we were about to head for the Rialto bridge, when some of the Collective's agents came out of another alley further up the street, blocking our path.

"Damn it!" I yelled. I grabbed Skinner and Sawyer by the arms and pulled them in the opposite direction. We ran like hell to the end of the street as at least a dozen of their agents swarmed after us.

We weaved our way throughout the streets, alleys and squares, sweating under the midday sun. At one point, when we were barely keeping out of their grasp, Skinner gave me the Soul Catcher and separated from Sawyer and I, backtracked slightly and started tripping them over and shoving them in canals. I would have found it funny if we weren't on the run and I wasn't pissed off at him for being reckless.  
Whenever it seemed like we had an opportunity to go in the direction we had come from and get back to the Nautilus, we'd be cut off by one of their agents again.  
We finally reached the point where we couldn't run anymore, so we sprinted down an alley and making sure that no one saw us, broke into a shop that was closed. We ducked under the counter, panting, peeking over the top every now and then to make sure we hadn't been followed.

"Why on earth… are they chasing… us anyway? It's… not like they… know we've stole something." Skinner asked between gasps.

"We ran… Proved… that we were… up to something." I replied, equally breathless.

"Bet you wish… we'd brought our… Winchester's now, huh?" Sawyer asked with a trace of bitterness.  
I peered over the counter again, gasped and ducked back down. One of the agents was standing right outside, searching the alley to see if we'd run down there. If he'd turned his head to the left, he would have seen my head bobbing over the counter.

"An agent. Don't look," I hissed, pulling Sawyer down as he tried to look for himself.

"This shop leads into another alley, out the back room," Skinner whispered, pointing to an open door a few feet in front of us. "but he might see us, even if we crawl, but I think it's a risk we have to take."

Sawyer and I nodded. I took the Soul Catcher out of the pocket I had shoved it in earlier, and handed it to Skinner.

"You go first. He won't see you. Even if we get caught, at least you'll be able to escape with the Soul Catcher."

He hesitated, but took it from me. I heard him get up and tip toe to the door, slipping into the back room. Sawyer pulled himself onto his hands and knees, and scuttled, like a distressed crab, as fast as he could through the doorway.  
I got onto my hands and knees, but peeked over the counter to see if he was looking. He was bending over to examine the broken glass of the window on the door. I crawled across the cold tiled floor, my heart hammering in my ears. I inched towards the door, my eyes fixed on my hands as they padded across the floor like paws.  
I went through the doorway and bumped my head against something soft. I looked up and saw it was Sawyer's shoulder- he was been crouching by the door, and had a pistol in his hand. He was aiming for the head of the Collective agent.

"I told you not to bring guns." I hissed as we both retreated through into the back room.

"I only brought _a _gun." He responded. There was a loud click as Skinner broke the lock on the door and pushed it open. He leaned out into the alley and said "Coast is clear; I think we can head back now."

We crept out into the alley and out into the main street, walking calmly but keeping our eyes open in case anyone gave chase. We crossed a tiny bridge that could barely let two people pass each other on it, and walked across a wide square that housed a few mimes and a man juggling knives. Another bridge was crossed and we had to struggle down a few very busy streets, but eventually the Nautilus was in our sights again. The gangplank was still down, and Nemo was pacing restlessly up and down it. He stopped when he saw us, and smiled warmly.

"It all went well, I assume?"

"We got chased, but we probably should have seen that coming." I replied.

"The rest of the League are waiting with Jasmine in the sleeping quarters," he beckoned us to follow him onto the ship "We can settle this matter once and for all."


	15. Chapter 15: This Ghost's So Outta Here

_Authors Note: _The League tries to talk to their household ghost, but does it all go according to plan? Does _anything _ever go according to plan for the League? I hear you ask. Why, no. No it doesn't.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 15: This Ghost's _So _Outta Here

January 5th 1900

"So," I drummed my fingers on the floor "What do we do now?"

We must have been quite a sight to see. The seven of us were all seated in a circle on the floor in the middle of Quatermain's room, the hideous Soul Catcher in the centre. Jekyll, Mina and Nemo in particular, who were all the epitome of decorum and civility looked ridiculous sitting on the floor.

"We wait for the ghost." Jasmine said, kneeling at the head of the circle.

"What if he doesn't show up?" Sawyer asked, his chin in his hand. I think he was finding the whole ghost situation less like a fascinating supernatural phenomenon, and more like a rat infestation. And we were at the stage where we were sitting around trying to coax it into the trap with a bit of cheese. The robbery earlier was probably the most fun he has had in this whole thing, poor guy.

"I could summon him, if I have to. But that can be a bit exhausting, so I think we should wait to see if he comes of his own free will."

"I'm sorry we kept you waiting, by the way," I addressed the League "there was a little tiny flaw in my plan."

"Which was?" Mina asked.

"I forgot that they would, like, react." I grimaced. In hindsight, I felt pretty stupid for not thinking ahead of the entering and stealing parts of the scheme.

"It was _still _a success though." Jekyll pointed out.

"If Catherine were here," Jasmine said, "she'd make some remark about how even though you managed to get away; they'll just find you here using your tracking device."  
There was a long silence. So there were _two _tiny flaws in my plan.

"Oh." Skinner said quietly, staring at my 'bracelet' "Didn't think about that did we?"

"I'm sorry," Jasmine gushed "I shouldn't –"

"Don't apologise for telling the truth," Nemo said gently "and don't worry. We'll be ready for them if they come."  
More like _when _they come.

"Are you sensing anything yet?" Sawyer asked Jasmine suddenly.

"I'm afraid not. At least, not anything above normal levels in this room." She rocked back into a crouch. "These things can take time."

"Why doesn't he want to see us?" He demanded.

She shrugged. "It's hard to understand what's going through a ghosts head, even if you knew that person well when they were alive. People change when they die."

"I can attest to that." Mina said with a smile.

"Well, as long we're going to be kept waiting," Jekyll said, stretching out his legs "how did things go with your little act of crime?"

"Not bad, all things considered."

"But it feels downright _weird _going through a wall," Skinner said emphatically "it's like walking against the wind, only, well, thicker."

"At least you weren't stuck in a room of angry wizards who made some… less than flattering assumptions about the relationship between me and Dan."

"And they voiced these assumptions to your faces?" Mina arched a disapproving eyebrow.

"What they said isn't important. The point is Skinner was amazing and stole the Soul Catcher, I was amazing and told them to go fuck themselves, Sawyer was amazing and watched my back when we were nearly caught, and the three of us were just generally incredible. They didn't know what hit them." I grinned.

"You said that… _that_ word? In front of people?" Jekyll exclaimed.

"You seem to say 'that word' a lot." Skinner laughed at Jekyll's horrified expression.

"Yes, but this time I actually needed to."

"Yeah, those guys were such…" Sawyer pursed his lips, unable to bring himself to use seriously foul language.

"Bastards." I finished for him.

"Couldn't have put it better myself."

There was a gentle tinkling sound from the doorway. We looked up and saw the ghost catcher Jasmine had hung on this door swaying as if blown by a breeze. Ghost catcher, Soul Catcher… ghosts do not seem to get much freedom.  
Six pairs of eyes shot back to Jasmine who was kneeling again, hands over the Soul Catcher, frowning in concentration. Upon closer inspection, I noticed there was now a black fleck in the middle of the glass orb that was the Soul Catcher, like the opening of a black hole.  
The fleck stayed the same size for a few minutes while our gaze zipped back and forth between the Soul Catcher and Jasmine's face. The fleck started to get a bit bigger, as if someone were ripping a tear to make it larger. But it had only got a tiny little bit bigger, and yet a few beads of sweat were trickling down Jasmine's face and every now and then she would twitch like she just had a stabbing pain.

"Jasmine." Sawyer whispered.

"This ghost is really stubborn." She breathed, "I'm fine." The fact that she had to answer a question no one had asked meant she definitely, _definitely_ was not.

"What do we do?" Skinner hissed in my ear "We can't let Jas carry on. Just look at her."

I agreed, but I really didn't know how to interrupt something like this. It wasn't a physical thing; it was something she was doing with her mind or soul or something else we couldn't touch.  
Why wasn't the ghost letting her put its soul in the Soul Catcher? Jasmine would not be doing this if it would hurt the ghost in any way. And you would think it, well; he would want to talk to us.  
What in god's name was he playing at?  
We all crouched and watched Jasmine struggle with the ghost's essence, and just as the fleck started to expand again, the ghost made its move. I did not hear the ghost open the truck, but I saw Quatermain's elephant gun floating out of it, over our heads.  
It spun round to face Jasmine.  
I stared for a few dumbstruck moments before my instincts kicked in and I threw myself in front of her just as the gun was fired.

That's it, I thought as I felt a searing pain in my shoulder, this ghost's _so _outta here.


	16. Chapter 16: Christmas Comes Early

_Authors Note: _I hadn't actually made the decision to end this chapter the way I did until I was writing it, but that's just life I suppose.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 16: Christmas Comes Early

January 6th 1900

Jekyll insisted on keeping Jasmine in the infirmary over night after the physical, mental and I am also thinking spiritual strain of yesterday's events. I got to endure the fun experience of having a bullet dug out of my shoulder while Lucretia, Monique and Catherine, who arrived at the ship to say hello and get Jasmine (even though she could go home by herself at her age) ranted and raved at me about how I shouldn't be so reckless, and danger just seems to find me irresistible, and didn't I manage to break all my ribs just six months ago anyway? Joy.

I begged Jekyll to make them leave while he removed the bullet but he said he agreed with them and this might help drive the message home. What am I, a troublesome 8 year old? I don't get myself injured on purpose, it's just part of the lifestyle I lead. Besides, the fact that I haven't died yet is something I should be praised for. And another thing, Quatermain managed to die on our last mission, and I do not see anyone yelling at _him_.  
After a good half an hour of lecturing, they finally left me in peace and went back home, saying they'd be back today to get Jasmine and make sure I hadn't managed to get myself shot in 'a more significant limb' to quote Catherine. What limb is more significant than an arm, I'll never know.  
After breakfast, we all met in the boardroom to discuss what happened yesterday and how we would respond to this latest development.  
When I got there, Jekyll was fretting over Jasmine who was laughingly telling him not to worry about her so much. She still looked a little drained, but a lot better for a good nights sleep. He looked over at me, but Skinner beat him to it and asked, "How's the shoulder?"

"Bit sore, but fine." I took my seat at the table, which was Nemo's cue to stand up and address our congregation.

"I think we can now safely say this ghost _does _have malicious intent." he said, getting straight to the point.

"I'll say." Skinner said, glancing at Jasmine and me.

"I must confess that I feel the ghost should be exorcised," Jekyll spoke up "since he has grievously injured a member of the League."

"I agree." Mina said. I looked up and saw the two of them sharing a 'moment'.

"I wouldn't say 'grievously'…" I muttered.

"Why would he do that though?" Sawyer asked, half to himself. We didn't know how to answer. Why had the ghost picked up the gun and tried to shoot at us? It really didn't make any sense for Quatermain to attack us.

"Um…" Jasmine said, staring fixedly at the table "I didn't want to mention this, but I think I should."

"What?" Sawyer demanded.

"How did Quatermain die?"

"Don't you remember? He got stabbed in the back."

"What happened to his body?"

"We buried it in Kenya... where are you going with this, Jas?"

She groaned, and sat in silence for an agonizingly long minute. We wanted to push her for an answer, but were worried that if we hurried her she would clam up and wouldn't finish.

"Catherine told me this theory the other day," she continued "I didn't want to say anything because you were all so sure, but now I'm about 80% sure she's right."

"Know-it-all brat," I muttered "What did she get right this time?"

"I… don't think the ghost is Quatermain."

"Pardon me?" Mina asked in shock.

"The ghost I see around the ship is horrific. It's just a big, dusty, crumbling skeleton. And ghosts usually appear the way they did when they died. I thought maybe Quatermain's body had been burnt when it was taken back to Africa and that might explain his appearance, but... do you think it could be member of the crew who died in the explosion or something?"

"No." Mina said a little sharply.

"Oh, let me guess…" I put my palm to my forehead and sighed.

"According to your descriptions, the ghost is –"

"Grey." I finished for her.

"Yes. You're right, Jasmine; you probably should have mentioned this earlier."

"You all seemed so sure it was Quatermain, I didn't want to upset you." Jasmine said weakly.

"Who cares about that now? Let us just _get rid of him_." This latest realization had galvanized Sawyer into a frenzy of anti-Grey activity, and his eyes smouldered with hatred.

"Sawyer's right. Let's kill him… again. My camp nemesis will not get the better of me a second time, I swear it!" I cried. Jasmine still giggled a little at the term 'my camp nemesis' which had amused her no end when we told her about our exploits.

"Do you think you will be up to performing such a ritual?" Jekyll asked Jasmine.

"I think so. Besides, I need a day or so to prepare the equipment necessary for an exorcism."

"Who the hell does that prick think he is, skulking around the Nautilus after what he did to us?" I continued on my mini rampage.

"He might be able to hear you, you know." Nemo warned.

"Good, I hope he does. Then he'll regret coming back; because we're gonna kick his sorry ass out of here." Sawyer retorted.

"All the way to Hell." Skinner snarled. He was (naturally) still pissed at Grey for pinning the blame on him when we found out there was a spy amongst us.

"Assuming we're right this time." Nemo pointed out.

"It's a shame Hyde can't hurt a ghost," Jekyll said bitterly. Wow, talk about team spirit. We were all getting in on this hate parade. "You're lucky you had the privilege of killing him once." He said to Mina.

"Well, now we can do it together," Mina smiled "… as a team." She added hastily, trying and failing to undo the implications of what she had said. If the rest of the League didn't know it before (and they most likely did) they had to know it by now. Jekyll and Mina were evidently interested in each other, but kept skimming over the subject and attempting to ignore it. The rest of us will have to start plotting a way to coax these two into each other's arms…  
But back to the matter at hand.

"You're decided?" Jasmine asked us.

"Yes." We all said at the same time.

"He is going to suffer my wrath and get gone once and for all." I declared.

"Save a piece for the rest of us." Skinner said, the joking lilt that usually accompanied his voice (especially when he was talking to Sawyer or me) gone.

"I… still can't get used to the idea of Quatermain not being ghost."

"I can assure you, boy, that I'm not a ghost," all of us froze in out seats as a familiar voice spoke to us from the doorway "a zombie maybe, but not a ghost."

We all snapped our heads round, and yes, there he was, as large as life, just leaning against the door frame as if it's normal for dead men to be scaring the life out of his living friends by popping up and talking and… and… and leaning and stuff.

"Quatermain!" Sawyer cried, his eyes lighting up, seemingly forgetting that he was meant to be dead and buried.

"You'd think Christmas had come early…" I whispered to Jasmine as he beamed.

She smiled, being one of the first to get over the shock. She'd almost instantly realized that this was the Quatermain we'd told her about, and somehow he was standing here. She replied:

"For him, it has."


	17. Chapter 17: Missing Out

_Authors Note: _Ugh, sorry, I felt like taking a weekend off. But I have returned, with two new chapters.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 17: Missing Out

January 6th 1900

Sawyer's overwhelming enthusiasm was infectious. We all leapt to our feet and crowded around Quatermain, smiling and laughing, slapping him on the back. Sawyer was daring enough to hug him, but instead of knifing him or shooting him in the stomach, as I feared he might, he smiled and reciprocated.  
I had never really been close to Quatermain, but it felt great to have him back; the League was complete again. Besides, it was impossible not to respect such an esteemed hunter – even if I did not like him that much, I admired his strength and determination. Not that I was going to say this to his face, of course.  
Catherine rolled her eyes at our emotional reunion and would probably have made some derogatory remark, but Jasmine slapped her on the arm and frowned, so she settled with skulking off into a corner.

"How, I mean… how?" Sawyer seemed to have finally remembered that Quatermain was supposed to be dead, and was now frowning.

"Africa wouldn't let him stay dead, it seems." I said. Quatermain gave me a wry smile.

"Well, I suppose you're used to dead things. This ghost, Mina, your other vampire pals…"

I rolled my eyes and didn't say anything, but still smiled in spite of myself.  
We all moved back to the table, and Jasmine jumped up and scuttled into the corner with Catherine so there would be enough room around the table. Quatermain narrowed his eyes at them and said, "Who are they?"

"A couple of my friends." I replied.

"But that's not the most important thing right now," Nemo said as he sat in his seat "we want to hear what happened to you."

Quatermain took his traditional seat at the head of the table, and began.

"Once you lot had left the funeral, a witch doctor cast a spell, and I was brought back."

We all sat, and waited for him to continue, but he didn't.

"That was kind of short." Skinner mused.

"What was death like?" Sawyer asked eagerly. You want to ask him what his _death _was like? I thought. That was so painfully tactless, it sounds like the sort of thing Catherine would say.

"Dark. A bit musty." He really wasn't good at this whole epic storytelling was he?

"Lost." Catherine said. She was staring fixedly at her feet, and was swaying back and forth. We all turned round to look at her

"I'm sorry?" Jekyll asked.

"You're lost in the woods, in the darkest hour of night," Mina explained. Huh. You'd think if Sawyer was curious about what it was like to be dead he would have asked Mina, but I guess the question had never really came to mind until now, "There's a glimpse of light through the trees, like a camp fire, and you keep getting closer and closer to it-"

"Just about to reach it. Then you're here again." Catherine finished.

"I didn't get as far as the firelight." Quatermain told us.

"I guess it's different for everyone," I shrugged "but I'm curious- how did you like, find us?"

"A giant shiny canoe is a bit hard to miss," he explained "once I'd adjusted to the whole returning from death concept, I travelled across Kenya asking people if they'd seen a big silver boat and where it was headed. Took a while, but I caught up to you eventually."

"Well, you've been missing out," I said, "we've got a ghost."

"So I heard."

"We think it's Gray." Skinner added.

"Yes, heard that too."

"Also, you missed the robbery." Sawyer said chirpily.

He arched an eyebrow. "Robbery?"

"It was Danny's idea." Jekyll spoke up.

"It wasn't just a random criminal act for the hell of it-"

"Yes it was." Catherine interrupted. I scowled at her and continued talking.

"We nicked a magic item from magic people so we could trap the ghost and talk to it. But fear not, you missed the little bit of crime, but now you get to see the exorcism!"

"This will be orchestrated by Jasmine." Nemo nodded at where Jasmine stood in the corner. She flushed and looked at the floor as Quatermain stared.

"She doesn't look like much." He concluded.

"Neither do you," I retorted "don't underestimate her, and don't insult her either. Don't insult _any _of my friends, or I might just send you back to the grave. Insulting them is my job."

"You? A job?" Catherine asked with mock disbelief.

"I'm not going to listen to someone who has less meat on them than a vegetarian buffet." I said coldly.

"Children, please," Jasmine said firmly, shaking her head at us "if you're going to play together you must learn to get on, and not _bicker_."

"Don't say bicker. I don't bicker." Catherine replied flatly.

"If your other vamp is a freak like this one, no wonder you left." Quatermain whispered to me. Bad move.

"Fool!" Catherine shrieked, in a rare bout of actual human emotion. "What right do you have to judge Lucretia? She dates back to the fourteenth century! She is part of the line that traces back to the start of humanity!"

Jasmine grabbed Catherine by the upper arms and started dragging her towards the door.

"I, I think we'll give you some time to yourselves, to get reacquainted." She said, while Catherine continued to glower at Quatermain as she was taken bodily from the room. When the door closed behind them, Quatermain (who had not reacted at all to Catherine's outburst) raised an eyebrow and said "She's not a very polite bloodsucker is she?"

"You're not exactly the nicest person on the planet," I pointed out "but yeah, I agree with you."

"So," Quatermain clasped his hands together "when are we booting Gray out?"

"Most likely tomorrow." Nemo responded.

"But that's up to our ghost-meister to decide, right?" Skinner asked "I mean, she might want to take a bit of a break, considering what happened last time."

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Jekyll said "this ghost – Gray – obviously has malicious intent, and it would be dangerous for him to remain on the ship for much longer. Also, I doubt young Jasmine will want to postpone the exorcism, since he has already managed to harm Danny."

"I agree." Mina added.

"As do I." Nemo said.

"Me too." Jasmine's muffled voice came from the other side of the door. After a few seconds, it opened and she stood shyly in the doorway, hand still gripping the doorknob.

"I need to prepare a few things first, but I do intend to rid you of this ghoul tomorrow, come hell or high water."

She took a few tentative steps in the room, and bowed her head to Quatermain.

"Mr Quatermain, it was an honour to meet you," he smiled at her in a way that was bordering pleasant. She addressed us as a group, "I shall see you all tomorrow evening. Keep your guard up and please, please try not to die before then."

She walked out of the room with her hands folded neatly behind her back, closing the door quietly behind her.  
Almost as soon as she was gone, Sawyer, an ecstatic grin plastered on his face turned to Quatermain and said "We kept your elephant gun and your other stuff… feel like going up on deck and shooting stuff?"

Quatermain grinned back, "Why yes, yes I do."


	18. Chapter 18: I Can't Believe Its Not Hell

_Authors Note: _Only a few chapters left now. I estimate about 3, 4 or maybe 5.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 18: I Can't Believe It's Not Hell

January 7th 1900

Today I was reminded of the fucking tedious week when we were chasing those backstabbing sons of bitches the week after the incident in Venice when we were following Gray and M to their hideout in Mongolia. There as a certain element of tension in the air, probably more so than it was all those months ago since this threat was so close to home… as well as being invisible, incorporeal and having the motive and means to kill us. Suffice to say I didn't sleep much last night. I managed to drift off for a while, but woke in a cold sweat. I had briefly thought of going out onto deck to get some fresh air but quickly realized that even _that _was a big fat no. Wander around the ship in the dark with a pissed off poltergeist on the loose? Not bloody likely.  
As much as I hate to admit it, I would probably have just cowered in my room until Jasmine came back for the exorcism, but Sawyer came to get me and take me to breakfast.  
For the whole day, the League stuck together and no one went anywhere without at least one other person going with them, even though we didn't actually voice our fears or our need to not be alone.  
Well, actually I say that we all stayed together, but sadly that isn't completely true.

Mina and Jekyll had gone up on deck (I might have made a comment if it weren't for the situation) and me and the others were left in the library. I'm not a big fan of reading, but I had pulled a book off a shelf in the hopes it would take my mind off things. But no, that would have been too easy. I sat there, my eyes darting across the paper and turning a page every now and then, but I didn't read a single word.  
I sighed, closed the book and crossed my legs. It was only when I felt my thighs sliding over one another that I realized that in my dazed, distracted haste getting dressed this morning, I had forgotten to put stockings on. I leaned forward and peeked over the edge of my skirt, and saw two, smooth, bare white ankles glaring back at me.  
I think I turned red, and then blue and then some other colour that doesn't even exist on the known spectrum. I glanced around at Nemo, Skinner, Quatermain and Sawyer who were all lost in their own worlds. Did they know? Had they seen my bare legs?  
I know that whoever the hell is reading this is probably thinking; you're a prostitute, what do you care if they see your ankles? But this was different. These were people I admired, respected and liked, not some lecherous old drunk who was gagging for it.

For a second I thought about asking one of them to take me back to my quarters, but I didn't think that would be appropriate, especially since Sawyer or Skinner (especially Skinner) might get the wrong idea. Ugh, men are all the same.

I stood up, dropped the book onto my chair and marched out of the library before I could change my mind, slamming the door behind me. The corridors were as well lit as they always were, but somehow that just made the halls feel even creepier. I wiped my sweating hands on the sides of my dress as I strode down the corridor and turned left. The League's chambers aren't exactly miles away from the library, but it felt like it took forever to get to my room. I flung myself inside, slamming the door as violently. I was shaking, and when I realized this, I was overwhelmed by a sudden wave of disgust at myself. Gray hadn't even made his presence known since that day when he shot me, and all he had managed to do was wing me in the shoulder. Yet I had been panicked all day, staying in a pack with the League like the coward I truly was.  
I yanked my stockings on as quickly as I could, feeling a bit happier now I was fully dressed. I lingered in my room a few minutes longer than I needed to, but eventually managed to drag myself to the door and fling it open. My heart hammered erratically in my chest and I stood in the doorframe, staring at the wall opposite. I turned my head slowly to the right, checking to see if the coast was clear. The hall was completely empty, but I saw a flicker, a dark shape out of the corner of my eye, like someone sprinting past me in the blink of an eye while my back was turned.  
I snapped my head round to look in the other direction, but whatever I had expected to see was gone. The other side of the hall was just as empty as the first. My heart slowed a little, and I stepped out of the room, turning right so I could head back to the library.

I heard a soft, tinkling sound behind me. I knew where it was coming from – it was one of the ghost catchers in Gray's and Quatermain's corridor. Despite what the sound meant, at that moment all I could think was: What a pathetic, girly sound to signal the entrance of a ghost.  
The chime was accompanied by a nearly silent thud, which snapped me out of my mini reverie.  
What the hell was that?  
I wasn't sticking around to find out. I look back, I just ran as fast as I could away from the sounds.  
I whirled down a few halls and skidded around corners until I slammed quite suddenly into another person. They grabbed me before I fell to the floor, and I looked up to see it was Skinner. I smiled weakly as I remembered how we'd been in a situation similar to this a few days before.

"What is it?" he demanded without humour. It was so odd to hear him being serious.

"Gray's back there." I gestured back the way I had come.~  
He held onto my arm and led me around the next corner, opening the second door on our left, the door to his room. He locked the door behind us, and even though it would be useless against a ghost, it made me feel better anyway. I sat down on his bed, and looked down at my hands. They were shaking again, from adrenaline as well as fear.  
Skinner folded his arms and tilted his head at me.

"What in the name of sanity did you run off on your own for?" he asked.

"Personal reason."

"Worth risking your life for?"

"Hey, I'm fine. Shaken but fine."

"He did manage to shoot you once already."

"In the shoulder."

"Only because he wasn't _aiming _at you. If you had not got in the way, he would have blown Jasmine's brains out."

I sighed. He sat down next to me and didn't say anything, waiting for an answer to his original question.

"Don't laugh and don't say anything… Skinnerish." I ordered him when it became apparent that giving him the silent treatment was more than useless. He nodded, and I took a great breath (a deep one wouldn't have been enough to do the job in this situation).

"I forgot to put on stockings this morning."

Even though I was certain he would have something to say about _that _he kept quiet. For a second I actually thought we'd just be able to acknowledge my idiocy and get over it, calmly and without fuss, but I saw him trying to suppress a smile.

"What?" I demanded.

"Since you managed to pluck up the courage to come clean, so shall I," he said with bravado "I saw."

"Saw what?"

He looked meaningfully at my legs. I was stunned for a couple of seconds, but recovered quickly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I shrieked, my face reddening

"You would have been more embarrassed if I'd told you." He pointed out. I didn't want to tell him he was right, so I scowled at him, annoyed that he knew that I knew he was right.  
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a flask Lucretia had given me a few days ago when I got shot, saying it was a late Christmas present. Quite thoughtful of her, seeing as how she hates Christmas. I'd filled it to the brim with vodka and would glug some of it down when the mood took me.  
I took a swig from it and even though I had just suffered a bit of an indignity because of him, I shoved it into Skinner's hands. He grinned.

"Ah, Dan, who cares if you're not a lady? You've got better habits and customs." He said affectionately, drinking what probably amounted to about half the flask. And it was not a small flask.

"Are we just going to sit in here then?" I asked as he handed the flask back.

"Why not? Better than risking it by meeting Gray out there." I shuddered and he patted me on the shoulder.

"I can't believe it's not hell, this thing with Gray the ghost." I murmured.

"Don't worry, he'll be gone by tonight. Aren't you supposed to be a fearless warrior woman or something?" he asked teasingly.

"Lucretia is the warrior woman – she is this big, muscle-bound, Amazonian goddess. Compared to her, I'm just the runt."

"Runts don't nick things from under the noses of about three dozen people."

"That was you, fool."

He shrugged, "It was your plan."

"You know," I said after a short pause "when the League first came together I thought we were all pretty useless."

"Don't need to tell me mate," he laughed, "that first time we met the Fantom I thought we'd be dead before we hit the ground."

"But since we have grown closer over time," I continued "we've got a whole lot better. Monique always said that friendship makes you stronger and I always thought that she was just talking crap, but now I think there may be something to it. That's why I'm staying."

"Staying?"

"With the League. I thought there might have been some doubts about who I was going to ride off into the sunset wit once this little shenanigan is over. I still love my other friends to pieces, but this just feels right. Like a new chapter or something."

Skinner opened his mouth to say something, when we heard a fist hammering on the door accompanied by Sawyer saying "Hey, you in there?"

Skinner sighed and stood up, strode across the room and unlocked the door. Sawyer had been leaning on the door and fell flat on his face at Skinner's feet. I laughed and walked over to them, looming over the collapsed Sawyer.

"You were just a complete and utter failure at standing upright. That is very, very embarrassing." I told him chirpily.

"What are you two doing in here?" he asked as we each grabbed a hand and pulled him to his feet.

"Danny had a run in with Gray, so we were hiding from him." Skinner explained.

"What are _you _doing here?" I asked.

"To tell you that Jasmine just got here," he grinned "it's time."


	19. Chapter 19: Not A Picnic

_Authors Note: _I'm sorry this chapter took so long. I went away for a while, and when I got back I just kept procrastinating. But here it is, finally.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 19: Not A Picnic

January 7th 1900

As it turned out, it was _not _time.  
Much to Sawyer and Quatermain's (who also seemed to be getting quite into this ghost thing) bitter disappointment, Jasmine said we would have to wait another three hours until midnight, the witching hour before we could perform the exorcism. God, there were so many _rules_ when it came to all this ghost stuff.  
Despite the fact that I warned him not to, Skinner mentioned the brief incident with the ghost in the hall and Jasmine went slightly berserk. She sat me down and actually _lectured _me on the dangers of angry spirits and roaming in their territory, before going on to order me, along with the rest of the League, to lock ourselves in the library until she had prepared the sight of the exorcism.  
I tried to point out that she was far too nice and sweet to take seriously so the effect of her lecture was lost on me and that she could never order _us_ to do anything, but the foolish girl was far too busy being serious to listen to me. She just herded us into the library and scooted off to whatever location she'd picked for the exorcism.  
Any other night I would have hated the tedium of sitting in the library for what amounted to almost the whole day, but after the narrow escape with Gray I was a bit glad.  
At midnight on the dot, the lock clicked open and Jasmine poked her head around the door.

"Okay, we're all set and ready to go." She said, beaming at us. God, this is an exorcism, not a freaking picnic.  
We joined her in the corridor and she led us to the chosen spot. I had expected it would be in Gray's room or somewhere around that area but instead we were taken to the helm. At the base of the wheel, a huge pentagram encased had been drawn in white chalk. In the pentagon at the centre was a small pot flanked by a pair of burning incense sticks. The only lights were a few stubby candles that she'd placed in the corners of the room. She probably hadn't meant to, but if she had intended to create an intensely creepy atmosphere, she'd nailed it.

"Sorry for vandalizing your floor." Jasmine said to Nemo.

"Not at all." He replied. He seemed to have realized that Jasmine was an apologetic sort of person so there was no point disagreeing too strongly when she tried to say sorry when it wasn't necessary.

"So, what now?" I asked.

"The seven of you need to sit around the edge of the pentagram." She instructed.

"We don't need to hold hands or anything, like a séance?" Quatermain asked with great distaste.

"No, that won't be necessary." She answered with a small laugh.  
We did as we were told and sat around the pentagram, while Jasmine kneeled in the centre; the candles made her white skin glow like the sun. It was only after I'd dumped myself inelegantly, legs akimbo and leaning back on my palms that I noticed the floor was covered in sticky droplets of liquid.

"Jas, why is there… _stuff _on the floor?" I demanded examining my wet palm. I half expected my skin to start melting or something.

"That's my anti-ghost potion. It'll help expel the spirit, when the exorcism gets going."

"If you don't mind my asking," Jekyll spoke up "it's just something I'm curious about – why did you choose this spot for the exorcism?"

"Ghosts are easiest to expel from buildings (or in this case a ship) when the exorcism is performed in rooms closest to the outside. Usually I do this" She gestured to the pentagram "in attics. Or, failing that, a room on the top floor."

"You're like a walking encyclopaedia on all things ghost aren't you?" Sawyer asked. She smiled, and blushed lightly. Her smile vanished when we heard a soft tinkling sound; a sound I was beginning to associate with eerie-ness and freaky things and just… general badness.

"The guest of honour's here then." Skinner said flatly.  
Jasmine focused her eyes briefly on something in the doorway – presumably the ghost the rest of us could not see – and then lowered her head, focusing on the floor in front of her, the candlelight making the shadows of her eyelashes run like black tears down her face.

"Enemy of man," she whispered "king of lies, begetter of death, author of pain and sorrow, creator of hate, abomination of the highest order; affront to God," she paused, and dipped her fingers in the pot. When she removed them, they were covered in the viscous liquid that she had sprinkled on the floor.

"I cast you out, demonic spirit," her voice was husky and all but enforced with iron "with the power channelled through and bestowed to me by our Lord Jesus Christ." In any other situation I might have giggled. Jasmine doesn't believe in God. She goes in for the whole Wiccan, circle of life, reincarnation stuff. But it was impossible to laugh when you're being haunted by a manic ghost, and when seeing Jasmine so steely and serious.

"He banishes you into the bottomless abyss, He sends you into the heart of the hellfire to burn for all eternity." She looked up, the flames of the candles dancing in the black centre of her eye, looking for all the world like the chasm of flames she was describing. She closed her eyes and raised her wet hands. She touched the liquid to her eyelids and her lips, and it dribbled down her expressionless face.

"Leave this place, minion of Satan and take your place in the darkest, dankest pit of hell."

Something we were all (except Jasmine) a bit unprepared for happened.  
There was a horrible, ear-shredding scream, one I will never forget. It was like I could feel my skull cracking as the unearthly noise resonated around us. We were all clutching our ears in a vain attempt to block out the noise, while Jasmine just knelt there. She hadn't even flinched.  
As abruptly as it had started, the screaming stopped, but just above where Jasmine was sitting there was a blinding light, like the air had caught fire. The small ball of light crumpled inwards, and had all but disappeared when it suddenly exploded outwards.

And when I say exploded, I mean _exploded_.  
The sound it made was almost as loud and awful as the screaming, and sent out a huge blastwave, so huge I thought it would knock down the very walls around us. I was tossed backwards towards the windows, and they cracked on impact. I fell to the floor, twisted and crumpled like an abandoned doll.  
A few seconds later the light vanished completely and it was all over.  
I just lay there, waiting for my brain to start functioning normally and for the glow from the explosion to stop dancing before my eyes. When my vision finally cleared, I saw a hand outstretched towards me. Quatermain's hand. He was standing over me, having recovered from the blast a lot faster than everyone else. I wondered vaguely if he had become invulnerable after being resurrected, or if that was him being his usual tough hard man.

"Well," he said to me, grinning like a lunatic. "That exorcism certainly didn't disappoint."


	20. Chapter 20: Also Not A Picnic

_Authors Note: _Long-ish chapter, since the next one will be the last. Random trivia: Campanile di San Marco (St Mark's Campanile) collapsed in 1902, but luckily, no one was in the square at the time.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 20: Also Not A Picnic

January 8th 1900

Ironically, the only person who'd been injured was Jekyll.  
He'd had a rather nasty collision of the steering wheel, which is clearly made from very sturdy stuff; it wasn't even dented for Christ's sake. He was bleeding vastly from a cut just below his hairline, and seemed to be having trouble standing up straight and forming properly structured sentences. I was reminded of when Gray had blown up the ship last year I'd also managed to gain a head injury.  
Mina whisked him off to the infirmary, leaving the rest of us to raise our eyebrows meaningfully at each other and help Jasmine pack up her things. She had wanted to erase the pentagram and clean his floor, but Nemo insisted that his crew would do it in the morning. Eventually she gave in, and was escorted to one of the spare bedchambers.  
I noticed that even after the exorcism ordeal, she didn't look tired, just satisfied and a little bit smug.  
You would think that now we were completely ghost free that we'd be free to relax. If that is what you think, you're an idiot.  
We'd been in the middle of breakfast, and Skinner had been telling Jasmine a joke about an Englishman, a Scotsman and an Irishman when we heard shouting and a few gunshots coming from outside. Hm. Also not a picnic.  
We had just stood up and were about to investigate when the door swung open and a man I had been hoping I wouldn't see again (but knew I would) entered.

The Head Mage.

His huge, muscled and heavily armed gang followed and they stared at us in a way they probably thought was intimidating but was in reality just pretentious. Before the Head Mage could deliver what ever grand opening speech I'm sure he sat up half the night writing, Sawyer said nonchalantly:

"You took your time. It's been _three days_, and Danny has a _tracking device _on her. What, did you screw up the co-ordinates, or are you just real lazy?"

The Head Mage looked so, so pissed… I could have kissed Sawyer.  
One of the Head Mage's minions suddenly shrieked girlishly and crumpled. His colleagues all jumped backwards, and I saw they were cowering in fear of a huge black wolf that seemed to be trying to get better acquainted with the man's insides. A dark blur shot through the door, and another man shrieked and fell over as Catherine clamped her jaws around his throat. The other men stood gawping and backing away, even though they might have been able to defeat Catherine and Monique if they put up a good fight.  
Catherine had just pounced on another of his Mage-liness's goons when Lucretia sailed through the door and said: "Enough."

Catherine immediately released her meal (which was lucky enough to still be alive) and skulked over to Lucretia, standing dutifully at her shoulder. Monique trotted over to me, the fur on her muzzle matted with blood. I scratched her absently behind the ears and stroked the fur along the strong ridges of her spine.  
The Head Mage gave us a peculiar look, and though I can guess why I don't really want to think about it.

Quatermain looked thoroughly confused. "What the blazes…?"

"That's the guy Dan, Skinner and me stole from a few days." Sawyer explained.

"And you and I have already met," Lucretia smiled "this is my daughter Catherine, and that" she gestured to our pet wolf "is Monique."

"You," the Head Mage finally said, pointing a long accusing finger at me "You… have gone too far. I will no longer stand by and let you do as you please. The judge won't let you off so lightly again. They'll throw away the key this time, mark my words."

"We spotted the Head Mage and his shady entourage approaching your vessel," Lucretia said as if he had not spoken "we doubted their intentions were anything pleasant, so we took it upon ourselves to assist you." Monique barked in agreement.

"Please," Jasmine said softly, stepping in front of me "leave her alone. You can have this back, we're finished with it." Jasmine reached into her pocket and pulled out the Soul Catcher.

"Hell no they can't have it back." I yelled.

"What?"

"I'm keeping it. On principal. _We _stole it, it's ours." I folded my arms.

"That's not logical." Catherine said.

"Oh, shut up you neurotic little monster." I snapped.

"It's in your best interests to give it back." Catherine said.

"She has a very valid argument, Danny." Mina pointed out.

"Whether she gives it back or not," the Head Mage snarled "she is still going to be arrested this time."

"Now _that_," Lucretia said, taking a step forward "is where we hit a small snag. If you take my friend into custody, you will not simply have me, Catherine, Jasmine and Monique to contend with," she leaned forward, hatred and malice in her eyes "the entire Strange clan will be against you."

"You will also have _us _to deal with." Quatermain cut in, folding his arms and scowling.

"You?" the Head Mage regarded the League sceptically. He'd looked worried when Lucretia was threatening him. She's a creepy woman, and the Strange clan are a very viable threat. But to him, we were less than nothing.

"She is a member of my crew." Nemo told him matter of factly.

"She's a member of our team. Our League." Sawyer interjected.

"You cannot storm onto my ship and drag away a member of our League in shackles." Nemo continued.

"We protect our own," Quatermain said "you try and take her, and we'll crush you. Literally."

"Because Edward could, you know." Jekyll said calmly.

"Danny, give them the Soul Catcher." Lucretia commanded me. I pursed my lips, but complied anyway, even though it really irritated me. The Head Mage looked rather stunned and a little scared by the numerous bloody threats made against his life in the last thirty seconds but recovered when I shoved the Soul Catcher into his hands.

"Typical," he sneered "you only obey orders coming from your gender confused ruler."

I glowered at him, and punched him square in the nose. It cracked beneath my knuckles, and he hit the floor, blood pouring down his face.

"Lucretia is ten times the man you'll ever be." I spat.  
His remaining bodyguards picked him up off the floor and whisked him out, while Lucretia glared at them until they were down the hall and out of sight. She looked at the table, laid out in all its edible glory and smiled.

"Wonderful. I could murder a cup of tea."

* * *

After the eventful breakfast, Lucretia, Catherine, Jasmine and Monique had all retreated back to their house – but only after Monique had apologized for acting so monstrously uncivilized. For the rest of the day, we indulged in more sightseeing. We were supposed to have spent the entire week soaking up the rich culture of Venice, but thanks to Gray, the bloody nonce (as annoying in death as he was in life) had rather ruined our plans.  
In the evening, just as the sun was going down we went to St Mark's Square, which, despite the late hour was still alive with tourists and some locals.  
To escape the crowds, Sawyer suggested we go up the Campanile (or the 'big pointy tower' as he called). I pointed out that it had closed about 3 hours ago, but Mina batted her eyes at the security guard and he let us up. She must have some kind of hypnotising power over mortals. Yes, that must be it. It is not just that she's beautiful and I'm not, it's a magic thing…

We watched the sun drowning in the water, which was nearly black apart from the occasional shimmers of bronze, gold and magenta on its surface. The marble of the square glowed pink like it was blushing. We were up there for almost an hour, long after the sun had crawled off the edge of the sky. When I commented to Skinner and Sawyer how tiny and (dare I say it?) antlike the people on the ground were, Skinner dared me to spit off the side and see if it landed on someone.  
Like naughty schoolchildren, we waited until everyone else's backs were turned and I leant over the edge – Skinner put his hands on my waist to steady me, which was not strictly necessary – and spat. We stared for a few long moments to see if anything would happen. We could just about make out a face as someone far below suddenly looked up, and we all stepped away from the edge, laughing. While the others looked confused, Quatermain chuckled, clearly knowing what we had done and approving.

"I wish I had your aim." Sawyer said.

We finally left the Campanile and walked along the Riva degli Schiavoni, the promenade that leads off St Mark's Square. I linked arms with Sawyer and Skinner, the three of us striding out in front. Mina and Jekyll lurked near the back (those two are going to be a hot topic among the rest of the League for months, I can tell) while Nemo and Quatermain strolled along somewhere in between our two groups, talking about whatever it is old men talk about.  
Even though it was almost midnight when we finally got back to the Nautilus and we all retired to our respective rooms, I felt like the day had gone too quickly. I didn't want tomorrow to come, because then this dream would end.


	21. Chapter 21: Maybe Sort Of A New Chapter

_Authors Note: _Ah, the end. It has been a long(ish) journey and I hope all those who've read this story have enjoyed it.

Oh, What NOW?

Chapter 21:

January 9th 1900

I woke up this morning and was happy for about three seconds, but then remembered that today was the end of our stay and Venice. We would be embarking on another wacky adventure in another exotic location.  
A location away from my other supernatural friends.  
I groaned and rolled out of bed. Was I really so pathetically dependent on them that I couldn't bear to be away from them? Well, I _had _been away from them for seven months. It's only natural that after a brief reunion I'd be sad to go. They were probably better off without me anyway. Monique us always telling me that I'm 'a bit of a handful'. I hope they'll be happy while I'm gone. I do.  
Still, I'm not ashamed to admit that I'll miss them very much. God, I hope I don't cry when they see us off.  
I put on a tatty deep blue dress (all we were going to be doing today was travelling. Who cared if there was a rip down the bodice and a few stains on the hem?) and on a whim grabbed the crystal pendant Jekyll had given me and slung it around my neck.  
I slouched off to the dining room for breakfast, but to my great surprise, no one was there and the food on the table was cooling rapidly. I had expected _everyone _to be here by now – the schedule of this ship ran liked clockwork for everyone but me, the one who's always late.

"Um." I said to myself. I leant on the doorframe and drummed my fingers against the wall, wondering what to do now. My answer presented itself in the form of Sawyer, who came running around the corner.

"Hey, there you are!" he chirped.

"Yeah, I'm here. Because this is the place we all are, every morning, at this time. For the past seven months. Where is everyone?" I demanded.

"Library." He grabbed my hand and started dragging me down the corridor.

"Why?" I reluctantly allowed myself to be led to wherever we were going.

"They're here." Was all he said.

"Who's here?" I asked, even though I could guess.

"Your freak show friends." I stopped abruptly and kicked him in the shin. He yelped and collapsed against the wall, muttering something under his breath.

"I meant that in a good way." He protested, massaging his leg.

"Sure you did." I said thickly.

"Hey, they're a nice bunch of people (except maybe Catherine)," he paused, as if he was wondering if I was going to kick him again for saying that "they're just a bit… odd. Like us."

I scowled, but grabbed him by the hand and walked with him the rest of the way to the library. Sawyer, like the girl he is, limped. I didn't kick him _that _hard.  
When we got there, Lucretia was sitting (and looking majestic) in an armchair by the fire, flanked by Jasmine and Monique while Catherine was curled into a ball at Lucretia's feet. Like a cat. Only maybe a bit smaller.  
The rest of the League had spread themselves throughout the room, and all their eyes turned to us when we came in.

"At last," Quatermain said, "We'd been wondering where you two had got to. Danny, your freaky friends are here to say goodbye." I'm getting the feeling that Quatermain is having a bad influence on Sawyer… poor boy. So young and impressionable.

"I'm standing right here." Monique said with mild annoyance.

"Come, come Monique, let us not argue. It is there final day, and we wouldn't wish them to think badly of us when they depart," Lucretia said light-heartedly. "As Mr. Quatermain said, we have come to this fine vessel to say a final farewell before you go from our crumbling city."

"I'll miss you. All of you." Jasmine said, addressing the whole room.

"I can't thank you enough for banishing that ghoul from my ship." Nemo said emphatically.

"It was my pleasure. Well, I mean, ideally there wouldn't have been a ghost here in the first place and I'm sure it really ruined your week, but you know what I'm trying to say. I hope you have more fun in your next port of call."

Jasmine left her place behind the chair and hugged every member of the League, which most of them seemed to take as a pleasant, if unusual surprise. Except that grumpy old goat Quatermain. He looked like he was constipated or something when her arms went around him. Jasmine went back behind the chair, and glanced expectantly at Monique, but she lowered her dark head and bit her lip.

"Well, I for one found it to be a great delight to meet the enigmatic and darkly powerful League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," Lucretia spoke instead of Monique "I am dearly hopeful that our paths will cross again and that you will bring our mutually beloved punk back to us in a number of pieces as close to one as possible. But I must say, you've had a massive effect on our young hellion here. Why, she has become quite the lady thanks to you. She is calmer, more polite, and speaks well. But please, change her no more. I fear when she returns to us, she won't be the person we expected to see."

Lucretia's little farewell speech over, eyes were turned to Monique again, but she still hadn't got a grip yet.

"Catherine, is there anything you wish to say?" Lucretia asked.

"Yeah, bye." Catherine said absently, tracing the pattern of the carpet with her fingertip.

"Now, my dear, there must be more to it than that." Lucretia leant forward in her chair. For a full minute, Catherine didn't move, but then she slowly unfurled herself like an opening flower, and got to her feet. She darted across the room to me, and put her bony hands on either side of my head. She stood on tiptoes and whispered in my ear:

"Goodbye."

I've always thought of Catherine as an ugly, peculiar, near emotionless little sack of bones that I'm oddly fond of. You'd think that having helped to raise her, I'd know her pretty well, but half the time I haven't a clue what she'll do or say – the only people who seem to understand her at all are Lucretia and Jasmine.  
The very rare displays of human emotion like this one are the most surprising thing she does though. For a split second when she moved away from me, I saw a flicker of a raw, base thing in her eyes, a tiny glimmer of love. But then it was gone. Probably just a trick of the light anyway.  
Catherine sat herself back down at Lucretia's feet and craned her neck to look up at Monique. The room was silent for a few seconds, but then Monique, keeping her head down and her face out of sight, moved towards me and looped her arms around my neck.  
The League looked a bit uncomfortable at the display of emotion, but I didn't care. I could feel her soft black hair on my cheek and every muscle in her body slowly relaxing as I hugged her back. I felt a single tear drip off her face and slide down my neck, soaking into the neckline of my dress. I was happy enough to die.  
Jasmine stepped out from behind the chair, and wrapped her arms around the two of us. Which was fine, I was perfectly content with just the three of us. But then Catherine got up and she joined in too, and I started to feel a bit claustrophobic.

"Ok, that's enough hugging, I don't want to suffocate." I tried shoving them off. Monique and Jasmine giggled, and started squeezing tighter. Argh, they're so childish sometimes.

"Seriously guys." I whined. Even Catherine had started joining in with the Death by Hugging operation, clamping her skinny arms around my ribs and seemingly attempting to crush them. Lucretia stood up from her chair, and smiled predatorily at us. She stalked towards us slowly, and so fast I almost don't see it, she leapt on us. The five of us crashed to the floor, but the other four kept trying to squeeze me to death. I wriggled and squirmed, but Catherine wound herself around my legs and Lucretia kept my arms pinned to my sides.

"I hate you!" I yelled over the sound of their laughter "I hate you all!"

"Ok, ok, I think that's enough." Jasmine said between giggles. Jesus, you don't say? They peeled themselves off me and we all helped one another get to our feet. Lucretia smiled and said:

"Danny, have the best of times with this company of oddities you have found. We'll always be waiting in the wings here in Venice, should you ever need us or want us." With a final goodbye, the four of them left the library and left my life indefinitely.

"Your companions certainly are an… interesting bunch." Quatermain commented.

"Yeah." I said hoarsely. I missed them a bit already.

"Ah, cheer up Danny," Skinner said, sensing my upset and getting up from the sofa to wrap his arm around me. "we'll have capital times, just you wait and see."

"And I had been contemplating coming back to Venice come Christmas." Nemo told me with a smile.

"I'd like that." I said, smiling back.

"So Dan, where should we go?" Sawyer asked.

"Huh?"

"We feel you should choose our next port of call." Mina explained.

"But I chose _this _one." I protested.

"Yes, but we thought it would help to make you feel better about having to leave your other friends behind if you got to pick our next destination." Jekyll said.

They were clearly set on this. Well, if this was gift was going to be handed to me on a plate, I ought to accept it graciously.

"Well…" I turned over the ideas in my head. Should we go to a cold place since this was a warm place? Nah, I was in the mood for heat. Besides, the others would probably want to go to warmer places in winter, when they would be cooler, and colder places in summer, when they would be warmer. Made sense.

"I'd like to go to the Caribbean." I decided.

"Then that is where we shall go." Nemo said firmly.

I grinned as I felt Skinner arms squeeze my shoulders. Another place with the same people I thought I'd never see again after our shenanigans with M. Life is a funny thing, isn't it?  
Hey, nosy parker reading my diary, do you think this counts as the start of yet another new chapter in my life, or a continuation of the one I started when I joined the League?

Oh, who cares anyway?


	22. Epilogue

_Author's Note: _Aha! Here it is, the epilogue! Like the original story, and the second story, this was written on a whim. I had given up the epilogue idea, since I couldn't think of what to write, but tonight, I sat down, randomly opened up a word document and started typing. I managed to get this down in just over half an hour. Be warned, much angsting lies ahead.

April 16th 2000

Danny Hollow jabbed the fire with the poker three times in quick succession, and then threw the poker out of the window. Catherine looked up from whatever she was sketching now and arched an eyebrow, "That's why we can't have nice things."

"Shut up." Danny spat. A gust of wind whistled through the shattered window, and Jasmine shivered.

"Danny, why, may I ask, have you lit a fire in the middle of spring? In a century where we have central heating?" Monique asked carefully, looking up from her book. Lucretia had suggested she read 'Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit' and Monique had agreed – those two bookworms are always recommending shit to each other, Danny thought.  
But Monique had almost finished it (it was less than two hundred pages long after all) and Danny had noticed Monique still didn't get what Lucretia was implying about the relationship between Danny and Monique. Gazing into the flames, Danny sighed and rolled her eyes. It wasn't Lucretia's business. Never would be.

"She has not told you?" Lucretia asked, arching her own eyebrow. She had started to lose her more florid, old-fashioned way of speaking, much to Monique's dismay. It was like listening to living history.

"Told me what?" Monique looked back at her moody friend, who was sprawled on the floor in front of the fireplace.

"Oh, it's not important." Jasmine said as lightly as she could, scratching her three legged cat behind the ears. It was a delicate subject for Danny and she wouldn't want to discuss it.

Danny knew that if Monique knew what was sitting on the fire, slowly turning to a grey, smouldering pile of ash, she would overdramatize and wouldn't let it go, bringing up things Danny didn't want to think about. Jasmine may have been more sensitive than Monique, but she certainly wasn't as dramatic. Which was why Danny hadn't really minded that much when she, as well as Catherine and Lucretia, were all sitting in their front room when she stomped down stairs carrying her bodyweight in books earlier that morning.  
She'd marched in, as dramatic with her entrances now as she had been her whole life, and tossed the stacks in her arms at the fireplace. A few had hit the mark, but most of them just fell to the floor at her feet. She scooped them up and threw them in as well.

"Are those poor, defenceless manuscripts you about to destroy what I think they are?" Lucretia had asked her, with just a hint of horror marring her usually steady, confident voice.

"You sure this chimney isn't blocked up?" Danny demanded, avoiding the question.

"It isn't." Catherine said.

"Great." Danny crouched down, lit a match and dropped it on her papery pile, ignoring Lucretia's small gasp. Danny wondered if she was gasping because she hated seeing books destroyed, or if it was because she knew what they were.  
Jasmine had been very curious about what Danny was doing, but the expression on her face told her it was best not to ask. Still, she couldn't resist the urge to hug her; she had such a sad, lost look in her eyes. Catherine had whispered the answer to Jasmine's unasked questions in her ear later, and Jasmine was glad she'd taken the risk by hugging her.  
A magnificent, wonderful thing had happened to Danny the day before. Her probation, a punishment she had been enduring for the last hundred odd years of her long life had been lifted, and she had finally been able to take off that accursed tracking device. Finally, she was a free woman. One still treated with great caution and distrust, but free, nonetheless.  
However, it had brought to her mind the incident; a little over one hundred years previously when the date that marked the end of her probation had been pushed forward, and with this memory came an unending stream of others.

Her years as a member of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. In hindsight, those years seemed so short.  
It had been fun, she certainly wasn't denying that. They'd been great friends to her, and together they travelled to a great number of places – America, China, India, Australia, France, Russia, Africa, Brazil, Japan – anywhere they'd felt like. But after eight, nearly nine years something happened. Quatermain died. Again.  
But this time, it had been of natural causes, not going down fighting like he'd always dreamed. He could have just been brought back to life by the African witch doctor, like he had been the first time, but that hadn't mattered to Danny at the time. She had realized a horrible, soul-crushing truth that Lucretia had been living with for many years, which Monique, Jasmine, Catherine and Danny herself were all going to have to come to terms with.

Mortals age and _die_.

Danny couldn't understand why she hadn't noticed it before. The webs in the corner of Jekyll's eyes, the grey hairs starting to sprout in Nemo's beard; little details like that.  
She was shocked she hadn't noticed Sawyer change, since his had been the most drastic. His voice had become deeper, his face, posture and general attitude stronger and more mature. He'd become a man, and Danny had been completely blind to it.

At their next port of call, Danny had declared that she was going home to Venice. The League had been upset and demanded an explanation, but she couldn't bring herself to tell them the truth. Parting by basically saying "Sorry, but you're all going to die and I can't deal with that" wasn't exactly the best way to end things.  
The only one who hadn't seemed surprised by her leaving was Mina. She'd looked at her with this mournful, knowing look on her face that said more than words. She understood Danny's reason, and sympathized with her because it was a problem she faced as well. Danny had wondered how long Mina would stay with the League, considering her immortality, but didn't ask.  
When she'd got back to Venice, Lucretia had given her the same look Mina had, while Monique, Catherine and Jasmine celebrated her return. Danny couldn't help but get the feeling that somewhere, in the backs of their minds, Monique and Jasmine understood why she had left but didn't want to address the issue. It wasn't their time to learn.  
Catherine, being Catherine, wouldn't have to deal with the same suffering since she didn't interact with humans. She understood the concept, but would never have to experience it. Danny was glad of that. When Catherine felt true emotions, which was very rare indeed, she felt it more deeply than any creature. It consumed her whole, even if only those who knew what to look for saw it. Any emotional pain she felt would probably pain the gentle Jasmine and Monique, and destroy her mother.

After a while, Danny had fallen out of the habit of befriending mortals. She would talk to them and interact with them, but she didn't make _friends _of them. It would just be far too messy and painful for any parties involved.  
She had also fallen out of the habit of writing diaries. This had come about during the First World War, when she noticed that most of entries were essentially _'The war is still going on. It's crap'_.

So that morning, the day after her probation had been lifted and she had sat crying in her room for a couple of hours (Monique had tried to comfort her, assuming (poor silly thing) that they were tears of joy) she had decided to destroy her diaries.  
What better way to disperse the painful memories than to burn them all away?

Danny looked away from the fire at Monique, who was still staring at Danny with her questioning green eyes. Monique had been on the verge of demanding an explanation, but at the sight of the void in Danny's eyes instilled in her a strange kind of fear and pity. She removed herself from her chair, and sat by Danny on the carpet. Danny, who was lying on her stomach shifted sideways and put her head on Monique's leg, like a very sullen cat.  
That was one thing she certainly wouldn't miss, Danny reminisced as she felt the heat of Monique's skin through her thin skirt, that massive red dress Danny wore – had to wear, thanks to social convention.  
Another unwelcome thought was stirred up. Red dress – Christmas – Christmas gifts – crystal pendant – did she still have it?

Danny closed her eyes and focused on the warmth of the fire and the shape of Monique's leg beneath her cheek. Her 172-year-old leg.  
That was something about her friendship with this quirky bunch Danny had come to really love and appreciate over time. They wouldn't age, and get sick or anything like that. True, they could be killed in a fight or (and Danny hated thinking of this) they might leave her all on their own, but at least she wouldn't have to sit back, powerless, and watch them die through the act of living.

But still…

No matter how carefully she tried to tiptoe around the subject, which sat like a fat invasive tumour in her brain, everything led back to the League. Her mind was a mess of questions; What sort of lives did they live after I left? When did they die? How did they die? Did they ever work out why I left? Is Mina still 'alive' now? What would have happened if I'd stayed?  
She couldn't stop the little fragmented memories from pouring in – Sawyer's smile, Jekyll's shock of vibrant red hair, Quatermain's wild dark eyes, Nemo's deep, warm laugh, Mina's cool, slightly aloof manner, and Skinner's habit of sneaking up on her and whispering something right in her ear so she'd jump.

Danny closed her eyes and tried not to remember.

She failed.

**The End**

_Author's Note: _No, seriously, for real this time. No more stories in the LXG universe. Wave bye bye. Are you waving? Well, great, now I just look like some moron sitting and waving at my screen all by myself. Thanks a lot.


End file.
